Shipping Off to Bullworth
by Zgamer
Summary: Clay McKinley has recently transferred to Bullworth Academy after a particularly nasty incident back in Utah. Little did he know that he would enter one of the roughest boarding schools on the east coast and the wrong move might get him expelled in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, a chance encounter with a certain student might be what he needs to endure until the next year...
1. It's a Dump

**Author Note: Chapters 1 & 2 have been fixed for grammar and some awkward bits of writing.**

* * *

"Alright everyone," the bus driver said as the vehicle slowed down. "Here we are at Bullworth Academy."

Clay twiddled his thumbs together as he anxiously waited for the bus to stop. The last few days had felt incredibly long, what with a couple layover flights on top of a delayed Bulldog bus trip. He was already nervous about being shipped halfway across the country to a new school. All these delays just built up the anxiety. He tried to think positive. It would be a new opportunity to—

"Hey kid!" The bus driver called from the front, startling Clay. "This your stop? I ain't giving out free rides."

Clay looked around and realized he was the only person left on the bus. He must have been so stuck in his own head that he hasn't noticed everyone else gradually leave. So now he had the driver's undivided attention...for better or for worse.

"Sorry…' Clay said quickly standing up and walking to the front.

"Any day, kid," the driver said impatiently. "My DVR's broken and Republican Space Rangers starts in half an hour."

Clay remained silent as he walked off the bus and turned to the luggage side compartment…until he heard the bus start to shift gears.

"Hey!" Clay shouted banging a hand on the side of the bus.

"Don't mess the paint, you brat!" The driver yelled.

"I…I just need to get my luggage."

"Huh? Oh right…yeah, then be quick."

Clay sighed as he proceeded to open the side door and pull out his three suitcases. He figured the airport people were cranky due to how much traffic they dealt with regularly. He figured some of the passengers were cranky because they were late like he was. But the bus driver being cranky too? People never acted this way back in Pleasant Grove, so maybe it was an East Coast Thing. He shouldn't make a big deal about it though, just in case the driver decided to ride off again.

After the last suitcase was off, Clay quickly slammed the side door and the driver put the pedal to the metal. A small puff of smoke blew out from the bus's exhaust pipe right into Clay's face, causing him to cough and wave the smoke out of his face. Real nice guy, that driver…

Once the smoke cleared the bus was out of sight, Clay pivoted around to see this 'bastion of education' his mother and uncle sent him to. He hoped it was as good as they hyped it up to be, since he was going to be living here for a year at least.

He looked up to see a sign over a gate with the school's name in bold letters: Bullworth Academy. Looking around, he felt a certain rugged vibe to the campus. The brick work for the main buildings, the stone walls encircling the area, the concrete ground and everything else communicated a real sense of age. He figured this campus was here long before there was even a town. It certainly made the school feel kind of majestic...

...if he was looking at it from a distance. Aside from the garbage tucked away in various corners, the walls had numerous cracks, there was a layer of grime in strategic spots and the grass was in need of cutting. Even the sign seemed to have seen better days, though they tried hard to cover that up with a fresh coast of paint. Talk about cleaning the outside of a dirty cup...

Right as he noticed that sign though, the front gates opened and a woman dressed in a neatly cleaned business suit walked towards him.

"You must be Mr. McKinley, right?" The woman said, her heels clacking loudly with each step before stopping in front of him.

Clay nodded.

"We've been expecting you. My name is Ms. Danvers and I would personally like to welcome you to Bullworth Academy," she said opening up her arms majestically and looking up to the sky. Clay wasn't sure how she expected him to respond, but she didn't give him any time to react as she sighed and continued. "I'm sure you'll be happy here. VERY happy indeed."

Almost on cue with that line, one of Clay's suitcases tipped over and a zipper opened up, spilling some neatly rolled up socks onto the ground.

"Darn it…" Clay muttered walking over to pick them up.

"I see you packed heartily for your stay," Ms. Danvers said observing his bags.

"Just the essentials," Clay replied stuffing his socks back in. "My uncle said that—"

"Yes, your uncle sounded like a nice man, but I don't have time to chit chat," she interrupted. "The Headmaster is waiting for you in his study at the main building."

"Ok..." Clay asked closing up the zipper. "Where's the main building?"

"The big building directly in front of us," Ms. Danvers said pointing to the building in the middle of the campus. "Hopefully your academic skills are better than your sense of direction. Once your transfer is finalized, you will have free access to everything Bullworth has at its disposal to benefit your education."

"That's gre—"

"Let's not keep Dr. Crabblesnitch waiting, Mr. McKinley. He's a brilliant man with brilliant things he needs to focus on. The less time you waste of his, the better. Be on your way."

Ms. Danvers quickly turned about and walked back into the campus.

"Wait, can you—" Clay tried to ask, but she was very clearly ignoring him. "…help me with my luggage?"

Well…looks like he was on his own. He stacked one of the suitcases on top of another that had wheels on it and pulled them behind him as he carried the other. They weren't exactly light, but thankfully Clay wasn't completely weak either. Working on construction sites had given him plenty of opportunity to work out some muscles even he didn't know he had before. Still, he wished the walk to the main building wasn't so long…and had fewer steps along the way.

As Clay crossed the campus, he took a moment to let the surroundings sink in. Summer was slowly but surely giving way to fall and the light breeze that picked up reminded him that the east coast was be a lot colder than the west. The sun was setting in the distance, cascading the sky with a nice vibrant orange hue as he could see a faint moon rising. It seemed like it would be a—

He wasn't able to finish that thought as someone ran straight into him, knocking them both onto the ground.

"OW!" The other person groaned. Clay rubbed his nose as he looked up and saw a blonde student in an unkempt school uniform quickly get to his feet. "Watch where you're going, fag!" The student shouted as he ran off towards another building.

"Get back here, you little ingrate!" Another voice shouted as Clay heard footsteps running towards him. He stood up to see two young men dressed in prefect outfits chasing the student, until one of the prefects stopped and saw Clay.

"Why aren't you in uniform?" The prefect said accusingly as the other continued the chase.

"…I just got here," Clay replied motioning to his dropped luggage.

"Huh? Oh, right. Well, don't waste time! Go see the Headmaster now."

With that, the prefect bolted to catch up with his companion, leaving Clay to once again carry his luggage by himself. He sighed again as he rearranged himself, all the while feeling the stares of other students casually walking by and noticing the scene.

If this was Pleasant Grove, one person would had at least offered to carry a bag. Not these students though, who went about their business without a care in the world. So it wasn't just the adults who weren't helpful.

Once he collected his things, he felt something drip onto his bottom lip. He touched a finger to it, only to see it was blood. Great...he already had a nosebleed and he had barely been here for two minutes. That must be some kind of record. He pulled out a napkin he kept in his pocket from the flight and cleaned himself up before tossing it in a trashcan nearby. Hopefully that was the worst he would deal with today.

As he continued his walk to the building, Clay seriously started doubting his uncle Hyrum's judgment about this school. They had heard so many stories from their cousins' families about how this place was one of the top ranked boarding schools in the country. But a place that produced top tier businessmen, lawyers and productive members of society? He couldn't see it yet. He was seeing the signs that this place also produced a high number of drug abusers, but not enough to merit public concern it seemed.

A few more minutes of walking and Clay found himself at the front door. He reached to open it…

…only to have it fling into him, revealing another student dressed like someone from a 1950's motorcycle movie.

"Out of the way, dork," the guy said bumping a shoulder into Clay and walking away. Clay grit his teeth and almost shouted at the guy, but he knew that would do him no good. Getting angry was what got him here in the first place…

Clay entered the building and looked around to find the Headmaster's office. Not seeing anything notably discernable, he decided to ask another prefect nearby for help. Maybe this guy was nicer.

"Excuse me," Clay said.

"Hey!" The man replied pointing to Clay. "Where's your uniform?"

So much for that theory...

"…I just got here."

"Oh…right," the prefect said sounding slightly disappointed. "Well then, what do you want ?"

"Um…I'm looking for Dr. Crabbersnitch's office."

"It's CRABBLE-SNITCH," the prefect clarified pointing to the second floor of the building, "Get it right, you snot nosed brat. And he's up the stairs straight ahead. Move along."

Clay gripped the handle of the suitcase he was carrying tightly as the man walked away. Now these guys were being plain mean. He exhaled deeply as he closed his eyes and said a quick personal prayer to calm down. It never used to be this hard to relax and be good-natured before. If it wasn't for those guys back at the construction site…

Once he calmed down, Clay plotted his hike up the stairs. He took a minute to figure out how to distribute the weight of his bags so he only needed to take one trip up. Now this really felt like being back at the construction site. He positioned the bags awkwardly around him, lacing his fingers between multiple handles. Once he felt he had a firm grip, he began his ascent.

Other students passed him by, not making eye contact with him and most just pretending to ignore him. He could feel his fingers ache as the bags clacked against each step. Maybe he just needed to ask people more directly to get help around here. It worked with the last guy. He saw someone walking down and turned to face him.

"Oh hey," Clay said to a chubby but friendly looking student with glasses, messy hair and…a broken pant zipper? Regardless, Clay motioned to one of his bags. "Um…could you help? They're really heavy."

"You're already almost there," the student said pointing to the top as he continued walking. "I got a study group scheduled and I can't be late."

"But I…" Clay weakly tried to protest as the guy walked away. He sighed. So apparently this place was full of jerks. That was going to make making friends here so much fun...

With a little extra effort, he finally made it to the top. He took a moment to catch his breath, looking around the area to notice the decor. The interior of the school kind of echoed the exterior. It was old looking, drab, grandiose and had garbage stuffed in the corners. At least they earned points for consistency. The only difference was that there was much more school swag and decorations inside the building…and a pretty cool trophy case near the main office.

Satisfied he had seen everything he needed to, Clay wheeled his suitcases to the main office, where a familiar face greeted him.

"Mr. McKinley!" Ms. Danvers shouted from behind the office counter, causing Clay to jump and drop his bags. "Were you fighting?"

He didn't understand the question until he realized he must still have had some dried blood on his lip.

"Oh…no, you see, this—"

"I'm not interested in your excuses, young man," she interrupted pointing down the hall. "Go clean yourself up before you see the Headmaster."

"But I—"

"Do it!"

Clay figured she wasn't going to start listening any time soon, so he simply nodded and set his bags by the entrance.

"Yes ma'am," he said dejected as he went down the hall. A sea of green lockers covered the wall to his right as he dragged his feet behind him. It was nice not having to carry his bags, but knowing his luck today it was likely a momentary reprieve.

He eventually made his way to the boys restroom, which wasn't exactly the cleanest place he had ever seen. Bits of toilet paper and dried pee were scattered along the floor, with some pen drawn graffiti visible on the wall tiles. He figured he better not keep looking around unless he wanted to find more unsavory details.

As he turned on the nearest faucet and started cleaning himself up, he looked up at the mirror to see another bit of graffiti on the corner. Looking closely it read, 'Nerds suck cock for cash in the library.' He cringed at that insult, even more so than the fact it was scratched into the glass itself so it couldn't be erased. At least he wasn't really that much of a nerd so he didn't take much offense.

He finished his business and made his way back to the main office. Along the way, he passed by a very pretty girl with glasses and pigtails. He must have been admiring her more than she preferred those gg, because she gave him an odd look as she continued on her way. He suddenly felt bad for looking, but he couldn't help it. He had just barely turned sixteen and now he was old enough to start going on dates, or at least by his mother's standards. That made everyone seemed extra pretty to him. The curse of being a teenage boy...

Then again, there were a couple other overt reasons why she would have looked at him funny, but he chose not to dwell on that. The less he had to explain those things to people, the better.

He rounded the corner of the office entrance and was greeted once again by Ms. Danvers. He was starting to get really tired of seeing her.

"There," she said noticing his face. "Doesn't that feel better and more responsible?"

He nodded out of compliance.

"I can't hear you," she insisted.

"…yes ma'am," Clay replied.

"Good. Fighting is not a way to make a good first impression, Mr. McKinley. We've had enough of that to last a lifetime here at Bullworth."

"...is the Headmaster in?"

"Right through those doors," she said pointing behind her. "Just leave you bags here."

Clay nodded again as he walked past the counter to the big wooden doors she pointed to. Time to meet the guy running this place.

He pushed open one of the doors slightly and looked inside to make sure he wasn't interrupting anything.

"Come in," a deep, booming voice said inside the room.

Clay didn't wait as he opened the door fully and walked inside. Compared to everything else in the school, this office was pristine! Neatly arranged furniture, clean decorative items scattered about, neatly varnished wood floors and all kinds of little details flooded Clay's view. He had walked into a couple buildings like this working with Uncle Hyrum's crew, but not one with this level of architecture and care.

"Ah yes," an older well dressed man said from behind a large oak desk. "You must be Mr. McKinley, correct?"

"Yes sir," Clay replied.

"Good. Have a seat."

Clay promptly sat in the chair in front of the desk. If there was anyone he wanted to be on their good side, it was the Headmaster's.

"So," Dr. Crabblesnitch said putting away a paper he was looking at. "We've heard a lot about you, Mr. McKinley."

"Really?"

"Indeed. Your mother and uncle sent letters a few days ago talking about how you were 'a model student,' 'upstanding,' and 'the nicest boy I could meet.'"

Clay smiled at that. With how everyone else had treated him up to this point, it was nice to hear a few encouraging words.

"Glowing praise to be sure," the Headmaster continued. "And I would be more inclined to believe it had your family not sent those monsters Jacob, David and Olivia to our school."

And that was where the encouraging words ended.

"…sorry?"

"Your cousins, correct?"

Oh, Clay thought to himself. Uncle Hyrum never said that they were the people who went to this school.

"Miscreants, the lot of them. Constantly truant, disrespectful to the staff, low grades, vandals. I even caught them smoking marijuana on multiple occasions. Why the list just goes on. The day they left couldn't have come soon enough."

Clay sighed as Dr. Crabblesnitch stood up from his desk.

"Which is why I decided not to just take their word on your recommendation," he continued. "And did some digging."

Clay felt his fingers tap nervously against his leg as Crabblesnitch walked over towards him.

"Your former teachers seem to corroborate your mother's praise, which was encouraging. But then I heard some…disquieting rumors that I also verified."

Yup…that was what Clay expected.

"That's why I wanted to ask you directly about this…incident. Care to explain yourself."

Clay was surprised that he would let him talk at all, but he figured it was a good chance to clear the air. If he could suppress his nerves, of course.

"Well…" Clay mumbled trying to collect his thoughts.

"Speak up," Dr. Crabblesnitch said. "There will be no mumbling in this school."

Clay sighed as he cleared his throat to continue. "I…I got in a fight."

"I'm aware. But why?" Crabblesnitch grilled.

"…some guys…they, um, cornered me at work."

"So you decided to act the way you did?"

Clay rubbed his hands together and turned his head away.

"I see they left a few scars, didn't they?" The Headmaster said pointing to Clay's face.

And that's what Clay figured people would notice. He sighed as he parted the hair over his right ear, revealing the top section that had been cut off. People could easily see the split right eyebrow that had healed over, but apparently he hadn't done a good enough job hiding the other injury.

"…yes, sir." Clay replied.

"Well, let that be a reminder for you, young man," Dr. Crabblesnitch said walking towards a painting on the wall. "Here at Bullworth, we strive to have our students aim for a higher standard of moral character. We don't encourage violent behavior or misconduct. Sure some students will act out every so often, but that's just young men and women venting out childhood aggressions as part of their journey to adulthood."

Great…another lecture. Clay twiddled his thumbs again as he saw the Headmaster walk towards him.

"However, acts of violence like yours will not be ignored when dealing with the safety of our students. Do you understand?"

Clay nodded with his eyes still fixed to the floor.

"My eyes are up here, Mr. McKinley."

He sighed as he looked up to Dr. Crabblesnitch, with the Headmaster's deep wrinkles and furrowed eyebrows fully in view.

"Was your behavior there conductive to the code of ethics at our school?"

"…no."

"'No,' what?"

"…no, sir."

"'No sir,' indeed. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye on that. We are instructing future generations here and we will not tolerate a family of ruffians. Now because this incident is your only serious discretion, I'm willing to forgive any presumptions on my part. However, I want to make myself clear. While you are on my campus, you will stay a model student. You will attend class, you will respect the faculty, you will not provoke the prefects, you will adhere to curfew and you will certainly NOT get into fights on my campus. Is that clear?"

For a moment, Clay let himself mentally vent all the things he wished he could say. _It wasn't my fault! Those guys hit me with pipes and knives! Why am I being blamed for my cousins?_ All of that and much more were waiting on the tip of his tongue to be spat out. He decided against that though, especially since he promised his mom and uncle he would do what Dr. Crabblesnitch asked.

"…yes, sir," Clay replied.

"That's good to hear," the Headmaster said with a wrinkled smile as he walked back to his desk. "I've always said that the way to create emotionally healthy adults is to impose a dense regiment of schedules and rules. It's what makes for a happy society and a productive individual."

Clay wasn't entirely sure about that, but he just watched as Dr. Crabblesnitch picked up a key ring from his desk.

"Your room number is on the label," he said holding the key out to Clay. "There are a couple uniforms waiting on your bed, but remember that anything else you decide to wear must adhere to the dress code. There's also a printed copy of your class schedule next to them."

Clay reached to take the key, until the Headmaster retracted his hand.

"And remember this," he continued. "This is a school or order. I don't want to see you in this office again for any rough housing or rule breaking. Because if that happens, I won't be as nice as I have been today. Understood?"

Clay nodded as the Headmaster put the key in his hand.

"Good. You'll keep your nose clean, boy…or we'll clean it for you. You can go now."

With that, Dr. Crabblesnitch returned to his desk as Clay gripped the key in his hand and walked out. _One time_ , he continued to lash out internally. _It was one time and now everyone's judging me! I'm trying to be a nice guy! Is that such a crime?_

He didn't voice any of this though, so he simply preached to the choir as he walked back to the front of the office.

"Did you two have a good chat?" Ms. Danvers asked, not looking up from her computer.

"…well—"

"Very good. Run along now."

Clay wasn't surprised anymore by her cutting him off and he wasn't in the mood to care. He pocketed his key and gathered his bags again to make the long trek to the dormitory near the front of the campus. It was going to be a long year...

—

The sun was setting by the time he made it outside. There were still quite a few students wandering about doing their business, everyone seemed to be winding down. Everyone except the prefects that was, who continued scouring the campus like vultures looking for troublemakers. Clay averted their gaze as he carried his luggage and eventually reached the front of the boys dorm.

Unfortunately, he also had a welcome party waiting for him.

"Fresh meat, boys!" A student dressed in a white school shirt and the traditional slacks said with a smile. Behind him were three similarly dressed students, including that guy who ran into Clay on the way in.

The group began to slowly circle around Clay wagon train style as he felt his knees shake. He seriously did not need this right now.

"Look at him," one of the other guys taunted. "He's got a little baby face."

"Mommy's not here for you, kiddo," another student teased. "You're on your own here."

For a moment, Clay felt a tinge of stress as memories from that last fight flashed. He can't get caught up in this though. Crabblesnitch would have him kicked out in an instant. Thinking quickly, he turned to call for a prefect.

"Say anything and you'll get a knuckle sandwich free of charge," a student behind him said cocking a fist to follow through on the threat. Clay already had one bloody nose today and he didn't need another, so he kept his mouth shut.

"So new kid," the blonde student from before said walking towards him. "What's in the bags?"

Clay faced the blonde student, only to have the student who threatened him wrap an arm around his neck. Clay struggled trying to free himself, his grip on his bags slipping. The other students just laughed, while Clay noticed a small crowd forming behind them.

"Come on, new kid," one of the other students mocked. "You got some muscle. Try and stop him."

"Nah man," the other student joked. "Look at him. He's a teddy bear . He couldn't hurt a fly."

Clay grit his teeth as he continued trying to free himself without hurting the other guy, but to no avail.

"Let's see what's behind bag number one," the blonde student said unzipping the bag and dumping the contents onto the ground.

"He got any money, Trent?" one of the students asked the blonde one.

"I'm checking, numb nuts," Trent replied sifting through the spilled items. "Clothes…clothes…shoes…clothes. Come on, where's the good stuff?"

Clay finally gave in and stomped on the foot of the guy holding him back.

"Shit!" The student yelled

"Get out of my stuff!" Clay shouted walking sternly to Trent.

"Oooo! Look out, boys! Baby face's sad we ruined his undies," Trent mocked as everyone else started laughing.

Clay got right up into Trent's face, which didn't intimidate Trent much because they were about equal height.

"You gonna cry now, baby face?" Trent taunted with a stern whisper. "Gonna wail your fists on me? Go on," he said opening his arms up. "First one's free."

Clay wanted to hit this guy so bad. He wanted to beat him senseless. But that's exactly what this guy wanted. He knew they probably sensed his unwillingness to fight and that's why they had him beat before they even started.

With a deep exhale, Clay walked over to collect his clothes and put them back in the suitcase.

"Yeah that's what I thought," Trent taunted again. "You're a Crabblesnitch bitch. You better watch out or I'm going to tear off your other ear too!"

And Clay hit his breaking point there. He immediately stood up and turned to slug Trent, but at the last minute was tripped by one of the other students.

"Oh there's the angry guy!" Trent mocked with a chuckle. "Struck a nerve, huh? You want to fight now? Alright then!"

With that, Trent gave a good kick into Clay's side, causing Clay to wheeze deeply.

"Stay on the ground, baby face. Crabblesnitch's gonna 'clean your nose' if you don't."

"Yeah, baby face!" Another student mocked. "Don't want mommy and daddy to take you away."

"I bet he's still a virgin," another student mocked.

Trent and another student kicked at Clay a couple more times for good measure. Clay didn't know what to do. He was stuck in a rock and a hard place unless something happened.

"Prefect!" One of the students then shouted.

The bullies stopped immediately. The rest of the group ran, but Trent took time to kick over one of Clay's other suitcases. The contents in that also spilled out on the floor, just to add further insult to injury.

"You're got lucky this time, baby face," Trent said before running towards a broken part of a nearby fence to escape.

Clay coughed as he struggled back to his feet and one of the prefects arrived. Of course, it was the prefect who yelled at him when he first arrived. It would be weird if something worked out in Clay's favor today.

"What the devil happened here?" The prefect shouted. "Were you fighting?"

Clay wanted to deny it, but he knew this guy wouldn't believe him. All the adults here were morons as far as he could tell and they seemed eager to pin any blame on him. And if he did deny it, he was sure Trent and those guys would probably make up a story about him attacking them. So he just stood there wiping some spit from the side of his mouth as the prefect looked at him judgingly.

"Answer the question, you little ingrate, or I'm sending you to the Headmaster's office!" The prefect threatened.

Before Clay could say anything else, someone beat him to it.

"He didn't do anything, Jack," a guy said approaching them. "Trent and his goons harassed him."

"Trent?" The prefect asked.

"Yup. Saw the whole thing myself. This guy was walking to the dorm and they jumped him."

"That dirty…" The prefect muttered to himself before looking to Clay. "Is that true?"

Clay nodded, his anger soothed a little now that someone had his back for once.

"Well…fine, you're off the hook then. Why aren't you in uniform though?"

Clay rolled his eyes and pointed to the suitcases, not wanting to repeat himself again.

"Right…well, don't dawdle then. Get to your room," the prefect said as he walked off to resume his regular patrol.

"I swear," the other student said shaking his head. "These prefects are getting worse. Here, you need a hand with that luggage?"

Clay almost didn't register what the guy said after the day he was having. Someone offering to help? Just...he didn't have any words. He nodded excitedly and the two of them began loading the tossed clothing back into the cases. Clay turned to see the crowd dissipating too. So...at least one guy was nice here.

"Looks like you got a proper Bullworth welcome," the student said.

"…does that happen to everyone?"

"No. Just to the people who matter."

Clay wasn't sure how to take that remark as they finished and he stood up to collect his cases.

"Here, let me take that," the other student said grabbing one.

"Oh…thanks."

"No worries. Gotta be honest though, I'm surprised you didn't hit Trent."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My first day here, I had to beat up three or four guys just to get into the dorm."

"Geez…" Clay groaned as they walked up the steps to the dorm. "This place sucks."

"Yup. Welcome to Bullworth," the student said opening the door. "The most prestigious piss hole on the east coast."

Clay sighed.

"Hey, don't stress about it," the student said giving Clay a pat on the shoulder. "You want to survive here? You got to stick it to the right people."

"I'm not supposed to fight though," Clay said. "Crabblesnitch said—"

"Crabblesnitch says a lot of crap that people don't follow. And you don't have to fight to show people who's the boss."

"…really?"

"…well, it helps, but there are other ways too. Anyway, let's get this stuff to your room. What's your name?"

"Um, Clay," Clay replied as the entered. "Clay McKinley. You?"

"Jimmy Hopkins," the student replied. "Come on, I'll show you around…"


	2. The Lay of the Land

A long time ago, Clay was a part of a particular Boy Scout retreat that was unique even for the many camping trips he had been on. The retreat wasn't memorable because of the merit badges or roasting marshmallows or that incident with his friend Peter at the archery range. No, this one was vividly memorable because of the dingy little cabin his troop was crammed into. On top of fitting fourteen people in a place built for six, the musky smell, dirty walls, rats and vandalism made for a pungent and unfortunately unforgettable experience.

Looking at the boys' dorm brought back those feelings and more, but without the charming rustic qualities of that old cabin's design.

"Home sweet home," Jimmy said sarcastically to Clay. "The breeding ground for future psychopaths, racists, crooks and corporate juggernauts. Sometimes we're lucky and we get someone who's all of the above. What do you think?"

As if on cue, a couple eggs flew out from the left hallway and splattered on the floor in front of them.

"You son of a bitch!" A boy from the hallway shouted as Clay heard the person pound on a door.

"...it'll linger," Clay replied.

"Wait until you've lived here a year. Where's your room?"

"Oh uh..." Clay said fiddling with his key to check for his room number. "...room three."

"Right this way," Jimmy said as he led them down the right hallway.

Clay took a moment to soak in the surroundings as they walked. The two hallways joined together at the entrance of a common room. It was about as nice looking as expected, as in it looked like a bunch of boys had lived here for years and trashed it numerous times. The couch in the center looked older than he was and the television was even older than that. A card table sat in one corner with a couple of cheap chairs, while a dartboard with Crabblesnitch's face taped on it hung to the side of it. A couple of vending machines were at the other corner, full of sugary drinks, salty chips and other artery clogging treats. A few other decorations and miscellaneous items were scattered about, including some holiday items people forgot to take down.

And of course, nothing could tie this room together like the graffiti on one of the walls proclaiming 'Jocks are overcompensating for tiny balls.' At this rate, Clay figured it would be weird not to see stuff written on walls.

"Here we are," Jimmy said as Clay set his bags down. "The best rooms an underfunded private school can afford."

"Sure," Clay mumbled as he went over and unlocked the door. He didn't expect to be so tired from carrying his luggage everywhere, but all he wanted to do was take a rest. His side still ached where Trent kicked him, so he hoped he didn't have to do much else today.

As he opened the door, his room turned out to not be as bad as he feared. It was lightly furnished and plain looking, but at least he had a bed, a desk with a chair, a night stand, a dresser and a couple other basics. And of course, his uniform and schedule were waiting for him in a neat pile on his bed.

"So," Jimmy said as they set Clay's bags off to the side. "What misfortune got you shipped off to Bullworth?"

"...I got in a fight," Clay said sitting on his bed.

"Huh..." Jimmy said as he sat on the desk chair."Somehow that's surprising and not surprising. Still, one fight and your folks sent you to boarding school?"

"...it was a bad fight."

"I figured," Jimmy said pointing to Clay's ear. "What did you give the other guy?"

Clay didn't respond.

"Fine," Jimmy said. "I won't pry. Ok, you got in a fight. So your mom and dad figured the best way to 'protect you' was to ship you to boarding school?"

"It was my uncle's idea."

"What about your dad?"

Clay shook his head.

"Ah, dead beat parent," Jimmy said with a smirk. "Trust me, I've been there. My mom's soon-to-be ex-husband recommended this place too

"'Soon-to-be?'"

"She says they're still in love, but she said that about her other husbands too. I'll give it another year."

Well...Jimmy was clearly much more open with his problems than Clay was. It was probably time to change the subjects.

"So, uh," Clay said. "You've been here for a year."

"Yup."

"Anything I should, um, know off the bat?"

"Yeah, don't make friends with sociopathic assholes."

Clay wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, which Jimmy noticed.

"Wait, you don't know?" Jimmy asked.

"Know what?"

"Figures..." Jimmy said standing up from the chair. "Let's just say we had a little...incident a few months ago where an ex-friend of mine tried to 'take over the school.'"

"Say what?" Clay replied scooting to the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, it's as stupid as it sounds. Guy was off his meds and his inner Machiavelli kicked in. He influenced the cliques, caused a school wide riot, tied up Crabblesnitch in his office and tried pinning it all on me so I'd get expelled."

Clay had heard some strange stories in his day, but that certainly took the cake.

"Jeez..." He said. "What was that guy's problem?"

"ADD and an intense hatred of people," Jimmy replied without missing a beat.

"Nobody told us about this."

"Of course they wouldn't," Jimmy replied leaning against the wall. "Crabblesnitch and the teachers have tried keeping things quiet so people wouldn't be afraid to send their kids here. You being here means it worked."

"There was a riot?" Clay asked still surprised.

"Big one. Broken windows, vandalism, kids sent to the hospital, people getting expelled and the works."

"At least things are getting better," a soft voice said from the doorway.

The two of them turned to see a shorter, mousier looking student in a bright pink uniform shirt walking into the room. The fact Jimmy smiled at the guy's arrival assured Clay that he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"Petey!" Jimmy said as the two of them gave each other a big bro hug. "How was the vacation?"

"Long, tedious and my parents argued nonstop. Otherwise, can't complain," Pete replied pointing to Clay. "Who's the new kid?"

"Right, introductions," Jimmy said as Clay stood up. "Clay McKinley, meet Pete Kowalski."

"Cool," Pete said as he and Clay shook hands. "What brings you to Bullworth?"

"Broken home, fighting and bad advice," Jimmy replied cutting Clay off. "You know, the Jimmy Hopkins story."

"God, I hope not," Pete replied.

What Jimmy said wasn't entirely right, but Clay was too tired to bother correcting him.

"Well, at least you got a nice room," Pete continued while walking in. "Jimmy told you about Gary?"

"The ex-friend?" Clay asked to clarify.

"The very same," Jimmy answered.

"Total prick too," Pete added. "The cliques haven't completely forgiven us for being his friend."

"Cliques are a big deal out here?" Clay asked.

"Yeah," Pete replied. "No one has to join a clique, but it's hard to make friends here otherwise."

"So you guys aren't in a clique?"

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "Tried it. Wasn't a fan."

"I'm 'too lame' to join," Pete added.

"Hey, if being lame means becoming the new head of the school, be as lame as you want, amigo."

"Head of school?" Clay asked.

"I might have gotten on Crabblesnitch's good side for stopping that big fight," Jimmy said. "And I might have told him Pete was instrumental in helping bring down Gary, which he was, so he might have added Pete to the top of his favorite students list."

"As if people didn't hate me enough," Pete replied.

"Haters gonna hate. Besides, you might be a force for lasting change around here. Me beating up the cliques didn't stop them from bullying each other, so maybe you can do something better."

"Maybe..." Pete muttered.

"What are the cliques like here?" Clay asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," Jimmy replied with a smirk as he walked to the door. "It's about time we took you on a tour."

"You might want to change into your uniform though," Pete said to Clay following Jimmy's lead.

"Ah, right," Jimmy replied. "We'll wait out front."

Clay sighed as the other two walked out of view. He didn't really feel like walking anywhere else today, but everything they were saying sounded like good advice. At least wearing the uniform meant those prefects would stop bothering him...maybe...

The group walked for a couple minutes as they went behind the school and reached a huge open area connecting to the other buildings on campus. Clay hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings, what with his uniform itching him something crazy, but seeing how much larger the school was came as a surprise.

"And here we are," Jimmy said as the group came to a stop.

A lot of kids were still walking about this part of the campus even as the sun was setting. Some of them were congregating in groups, most of them dressed in similar uniforms, while others strolled to wherever they were going or sat by the large fountain down the way. Compared to the scene Clay walked into earlier, this seemed much more serene.

"Wow," Pete said looking around. "I didn't expect so many people here right now."

"They've been meeting here more often," Jimmy replied. "Everyone's eager to see what the new kids are like, so they're strategizing how to recruit them. That or they're just soaking up the last bit of summer before classes start."

"Probably a bit of both."

"True," Jimmy said turning to Clay. "Ok, I'm pretty sure you can guess a lot of these cliques just by looking at them, but here's a few things to know..." He then pointed to a group of students in green uniform vests and dresses standing nearby the entrance to the library. "First off, take a wild guess who they are."

Clay didn't even need a second to think about it once he saw the glasses and variety of un-athletic body types. "Nerds?"

"Bingo," Jimmy replied. "The future doctors, mathematicians and unemployment welfare abusers of America."

"Why the green uniforms?"

"The astronomy club," Pete replied. "No one but the nerds are in it, so wearing the club vests makes them feel special. That and they've kind of made the observatory their headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

"Is there an echo?" Jimmy joked. "Yeah, they got a headquarters. So don't underestimate them because they can be pretty devious when they gather together."

"Did anyone replace Earnest yet?" Pete asked.

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "A few of them have tried, but 'there has been no consensus yet.'"

"Who's Earnest?" Clay asked.

"The former big cheese of the nerds. He graduated this year. Anyway," Jimmy said pointing to a group of people in sports wear walking in the distance, including a couple of cheerleaders. "Another no brainier, right?"

"Jocks?"

"Yup. The cause of rising tuition costs and underfunded departments. Hard as rocks and just as smart."

"Just don't say that to their face," Pete added.

Clay scanned over the people in the group for a moment. Most of them were muscular jock types laughing and talking about whatever stuff jocks talked about. Some of the girls seemed involved in the conversation, though a couple just followed the group looking bored. Clay figured he'd be in that camp if he were hanging with them.

"Probably best to steer clear of those guys for now," Jimmy said bringing Clay back into the conversation. "They're pretty wary of new kids unless they can prove themselves. You play any sports, Clay?"

"Not really. I had to work construction most of the time."

"Construction?"

"Yeah, I worked in my uncle's company for a few years."

"Well that explains that," Pete said pointing out Clay's toned arm muscles. Clay wasn't a muscular person by any means, but working long hours lifting construction material kept him in shape. He was also tall enough to look down on most people at the school, but he wasn't a particularly intimidating person. It just wasn't in his nature.

"...I guess, but I just, you know, never played sports," Clay replied awkwardly trying to cover up his arms.

Jimmy clearly had something on his mind based on the look he gave Clay, but he went back to his previous thought. "Anyway, I would steer clear of the lower half of the campus. Tad graduated this year too, so there's a bit of a power struggle going on. Now..." Jimmy pointed to a bunch of guys in leather jackets sporting heavily gelled hairdos next to girls with equally stylish hair near the entrance to the parking lot. "Do you guys have greasers out west?"

"What?"

"Didn't think so. These guys...they're a dying breed."

"Not here they aren't," Pete added. "I mean, Johnny getting transferred shook them up a bit, but they're not giving up the clique that easy. They're too lame to be jocks and too cool to be nerds."

"Yeah, if you live in the 50's," Jimmy replied sarcastically.

At that moment, Clay noticed another leather clad girl with bright red hair trying to walk up to the group, only for a bunch of the guys to turn their backs to her. After a few failed attempts to cuss them out, the girl walked away from the group towards Clay, Jimmy and Pete's direction.

"Things still suck for Lola, huh?" Pete asked.

"They're certainly not getting better," Jimmy replied turning to Clay. "Johnny's ex. You might want to steer clear of her too."

"Why?" Clay asked.

"Well, let's say that cheating on a clique leader with everybody in the school doesn't get you popularity points. That and she's got a knack for getting people in trouble."

"Like you?"

"More than I'd like to admit," Jimmy said with some annoyance as Lola walked directly up to them.

"Ugh, the nerve of those pricks!" Lola complained with a particularly whiny tone as she stopped next to Jimmy. "There I am trying to ask those grease balls a simple question and they act like I'm invisible. Can you believe it? All that talk about 'we got to be nice to the dames' and 'loyal to our women' while I'm being cast to the side like a flat tire."

"Yeah, life sucks sometimes," Jimmy replied unsympathetically.

"But why does it have to suck for me?" Lola replied adding some melodrama to her tone. "All I want to do is be a nice girl and people just walk all over me."

"Nice girls don't usually cheat on their boyfriends."

"Johnny knew that we weren't mutually exclusive. I'm a modern day woman and I can't be tied down to one man so quickly. If I can't live a little, well…what kind of life is worth living? Plus, I didn't hear you protesting when you smeared my lipstick, lover boy."

"Didn't say I regret it."

Lola scoffed until she set her eyes on Clay. He could almost feel her scan over his body head to toe. There was a momentary pause before a smirk crept on her face and she walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey…" She then said shifting to a flirtatious tone. "I know you. You're the guy Trent beat up by the dorm."

"I'm sure it was quite a show for you," Jimmy replied.

"Excuse me. I wasn't talking to you, Jimmy," Lola replied. "And for your information, I told the prefects about the fight, so I deserve some credit for his safety, thank you very much."

"You did?" Clay asked.

"Of course, cutie," Lola said running her fingers down his cheek, which sent a ticklish shiver up his spine. "I saw what happened. I couldn't live with myself if I let that jerk ruin your first day here."

"And I'm sure it wouldn't obligate him to do a favor in the future," Jimmy said crossing his arms.

"Hmph! You're one to talk. But no, that was out of the kindness of my heart. Besides, us pretty people have to look out for each other," she said winking at Clay, causing him to blush.

"Um…" Pete said trying to shift the discussion. "We've got some stuff to do, Lola. So…"

"I get it," She said annoyed. "I better not delay your little…whatever you're doing right now."

Clay suddenly felt a playful pat on his butt as she walked away and chuckled. "See you in class, cutie. When things go south with these two, give me a holler."

With that, Lola disappeared from view. It was a good thing Clay sort of had his legs close together, but he nonchalantly positioned himself just in case anything was …visible.

"Like I said," Jimmy finally said after a short pause. "Be careful with her."

"She seems…nice," Clay said unsure of what the right word was.

"Honey pots look sweet until you try them," Pete said.

"Anyway," Jimmy interrupted as he pointed to a group of people dressed in aqua blue vests sitting around the water fountain. "One more group to point out there. Want to take a guess who they are?"

Clay gave a quick glance. These people were nicely dressed, wore expensive accessories and had an aura of arrogance around them. So it wasn't hard to figure them out.

"…rich people?" He asked.

"Rich 'assholes,'" Jimmy clarified. "There's a difference."

"Eh, some of them are fine," Pete added.

"Name one."

"Um…"

"Exactly," Jimmy said. "The only reason they'd talk to you is if you're close to their parents' income level…or you have something they want."

"Or you beat them in boxing," Pete added.

"Yeah…good times," Jimmy replied cockily as he pointed to a lavish building nearby. "Anyway, the preppies usually hang out at the Harrington House. Even though Derby's on study abroad this year, his family still has a solid gold chokehold on the school."

"Derby?" Clay asked.

"The preps' leader," Pete said. "Some of them are trying to fill the power vacuum, but there's still some…hm, 'Derby loyalists' who think he'll come back."

"Even though he'll have graduated by that time," Jimmy noted. "Still, that's the preps for you. Deep pockets and no brains. So, you notice a connective tissue between these cliques?"

Clay thought about it for a moment. They seemed pretty diverse from what Jimmy and Pete told him, but there was one thing that seemed to be a common thread.

"They're leaderless?" He asked.

"An 'A plus' student here, folks," Jimmy teased. "Yup. Things were getting bad when Crabblesnitch clamped down on the cliques after the whole Gary thing, but some convenient circumstances just made it worse."

"Well, better too," Pete added. "The cliques haven't been as active as they used to be."

"Still, that means they're going to keep an eye out on new students to help boost their numbers. At least your little show today means no one's probably going to recruit you."

"…thanks?" Clay replied.

"No, that's a good thing," Jimmy clarified. "The cliques just cause problems for the school. The jocks bully the nerds, the nerds prank the jocks, the greasers beat up the preps, the preps get the jocks to fight the greasers…"

"So on and so forth," Pete said. "The more we can make the cliques get along or stop people from joining them, the better things will get."

"Yeah, because beating them into submission didn't help."

"Ok," Clay said. "So…how many people have you tried to convince so far?"

"…just you," Pete replied.

"Oh…"

"It's a work in progress," Jimmy replied. "But hey, if it helps you survive a year at Bullworth, that's fine by me."

"Hey!" A familiar and unwelcomed voice then said a short distance away.

Clay groaned as the three of them turned to see Trent and his goons approach.

"Lookie who it is, guys," Trent said. "It's the Crabblebitch!"

"Hold on," Jimmy said as he walked up to the bullies while Clay and Pete stood behind him.

"Hopkins," Trent said snidely as his group stopped.

"Northwick," Jimmy replied before motioning to Clay. "Heard you've been picking on my boy here."

"Your boy?"

"Yup. Didn't Russell and I make it clear that we don't tolerate that?"

"Russell isn't here right now," Trent replied. "Even if he was, he'd understand. It's a dog eat dog world here. You want to survive, you have to weed out the pussies from the panthers."

"Huh, I figured a tough guy like you wouldn't stoop so low as to quote manga."

"Hey! Don't knock 'Princess Robot Bubblegum' until you read it," Trent said before recomposing himself. "I'm just saying that the new kids need to toughen up if they're going to live here. You can't win a fight? You don't deserve anyone's respect."

"Good point," Jimmy replied sarcastically. "Remind me again, how many times have I kicked your ass this year? Seven, eight…fifteen times? Honestly, I've lost count!"

"So?"

"So, I'm going to keep kicking your ass if you harass him again. Unless you think you can beat me right now," Jimmy replied posturing himself. "Go on, first hit's free."

"Come on, Trent," one of Trent's buddies said.

"Kick his ass!" Another one replied.

It was then that Clay saw Trent hesitate. Like, really noticeably hesitate. Which was weird because Jimmy wasn't nearly as tall as Trent was, but if what Jimmy said was true then he must be one heck of a fighter.

"…whatever," Trent said casually brushing the threat off. "I don't have beef with you. And don't think you can protect him forever."

"I won't," Jimmy replied confidently. "He's going to kick your ass too when you least expect it."

"Ha!" Trent replied mockingly pointing at Jimmy. "That guy couldn't bruise a marshmallow and he's going to kick my ass? That'll be the day. See you around, Crabblebitch."

Trent and his goons walked away laughing to themselves as Jimmy walked back to the group.

"When did Trent start acting like the cock of the walk?" Pete asked.

"Since Russell went on vacation," Jimmy replied. "Don't worry. Russell will set him straight."

"What did you mean by that?" Clay asked.

"Huh?"

"That I'd kick his butt."

"Because you're going to. See, I don't think I told you this, but I have a sixth sense for detecting ass-kickers and you're one of them."

"But Crabblesnitch will expel me."

"Did he say that explicitly?"

"…no, but—"

"Like I said before, Crabblesnitch talks a lot of shit that no one follows. You just got to fight smart."

"That doesn't always mean actually having to fight," Pete rebutted. "There's probably a better way to get back at Trent."

"How?" Clay asked.

"I don't know. Just…pay attention and we'll figure something out."

"And when that fails," Jimmy added. "Come see me and I'll show you how to solve problems the American way."

Clay sighed. This was proving more complicated just by having them talk this much.

"Don't sweat it," Jimmy said patting Clay on the shoulder. "You got a whole year to think that over. But for right now, I got a date with a lovely lady. Catch you guys later."

"Hey Jimmy," Pete said. "Are we still meeting for—?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said starting to walk away. "Same time and place."

"Cool. See ya."

As Jimmy walked around the corner of the school, Pete turned to Clay.

"Well…" he said. "That's Jimmy for you."

"He's…nice," Clay said hesitantly.

"He really is. He's just a tough guy and you know how that goes."

Clay nodded as an awkward pause lingered for a second. "So…are we all friends then?"

"Totally," Pete said. "Jimmy doesn't talk to people for that long unless he thinks they're cool and, well, you seem cool to me."

"…thanks."

"No sweat," Pete replied. "Anyway, I got some stuff to do. See you at the dorm."

And with that, Pete also walked out of sight. Clay took another look around campus as he leaned against the wall of the main building. In the course of one day, he made some friends, gained a bully and got a crash course on school politics. And here he thought the most exciting thing he'd do all day was unpack.

A couple students walked by holding hands while others wandered about going to wherever they had in mind. It seemed pretty calm right now, though Jimmy and Pete seemed to paint an image of a powder keg waiting to erupt. Or that could be him over exaggerating what they said. Still, he didn't want to think about that. He had to assume there were more nice people at this school than not. He'd be completely depressed about the experience otherwise.

On that thought, Clay decided to walk back to the dorm. His bags weren't going to unpack themselves, sadly…

The rest of the evening was largely uneventful. Clay managed to return to the dorm unmolested, he grabbed a quick meal from the vending machine and he got his room set up rather quickly. He didn't really have a lot to decorate it with aside from a couple posters, but he figured he would sort that out over time.

Once he had unpacked to his satisfaction for the day, Clay flopped onto his bed and listened to some music while going over the day. It was certainly rougher than he was hoping but at least it ended better than it started. Still, how was he going to deal with Trent? Apparently getting beat up already put him on the lower end of the food chain and he wasn't all that interested in the food chain to begin with. More so, if he got in a fight and someone reported him, Crabblesnitch would send him home and that would be an awkward talk to have with his mother. All he wanted to do was go to his classes, make some friends and be happy with the experience. Was that too much to ask?

He tried to push out those complicated thoughts as he listened more intently to his music. Not that he didn't know every line from his "Erikson" soundtrack by heart, but it might bring him some solace to hear about 'the almost founding father' for a while without any interruptions…

…but that wouldn't be the case.

"Hey," someone said as they knocked on his door.

Clay immediately jumped off the bed. He thought he had locked his door after he went to the vending machine. The last thing he needed was for someone like Trent to barge right in.

Fortunately, the guy at the door was not nearly that intimidating.

"Oh jeez, my apologies," the guy said adjusting his big black glasses against his neatly groomed hair. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"…no, it's fine," Clay said pulling out his ear buds. The guy was definitely from the nerd clique wearing that green vest, but he hadn't seen him before now. "I wasn't expecting anyone."

"After that dastardly attack today, I'd be on my guard too," the guy replied with a weirdly exaggerated tone. "I was hoping to apologize on behalf of my fellow students for those ruffians. I wasn't there, but my compatriots say it was an unprovoked encounter. I assure you that the myriad of students inhabiting this lowly school have no quarrel with new kids."

"…thanks," Clay said still trying to comprehend the guy's word choices.

"So let me formally introduce myself," the guy said walking into the room and extending his hand. "I, my good sir, am Melvin."

"…Clay," Clay said shaking his hand.

"What part of this country do you hail from? I venture you are not local."

"No, um, I'm from Utah."

"Really? I've never travelled to such uncharted lands before. So, what sorts of ventures and frivolous pleasures do you engage in?"

"…what?"

"…what kind of hobbies are you into?" Melvin then said dropping his theatrics.

"Oh, um, drawing, music…"

"Ever been in a musical before?"

"Nope."

"Really? I heard you singing from down the hall and you sounded pretty good. You're a fan of 'Erikson' too?"

Singing? Clay figured he was humming along to the song, but he must have been louder than expected.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Most excellent," Melvin said slipping back into his theatrical tone. "What a fabulous production it is. A brilliant composition of contemporary musical theater mixed with the trends of modern hip-hop so even a theater troglodyte can appreciate it."

Clay really had no idea what he was talking about, but he decided to roll with it.

"What other productions do you like?" Melvin asked.

"You know," Clay replied. "'Wailer at the Mosque,' 'Banging Trash Can Lids for an Hour,' 'How to Steal a Billion While Working at the Bank,' 'Something Retro…'"

"'Hamster Harem?'"

"Eh…."

"Damn," Melvin said as he leaned against a wall. "Oh well, its simple pleasures aren't for everyone. Still, you should totally come to the drama club. Rumor is we're doing a musical for this year's school play and we're always looking for leading man types."

"…I'm a leading man type?"

"Sure. Tall, not fat, rugged but sweet. You've got the making of a moderately successful but critically beloved Broadway sensation."

"…I don't know."

"Well, we have our first meeting on Monday, so you should stop by and see what you think. Plus, girls like a guy who can perform in front of strangers and not humiliate themselves."

"…I guess."

"Cool," Melvin said as he began to walk away, until he stopped at the doorway and looked back towards Clay. "Oh, before I forget, I've noticed you've been hanging with Jimmy and Pete a lot."

"Yeah," Clay replied.

"If I may speak as one scholar to another, I'd be careful around suspect individuals like them."

"Suspect?"

"I'm sure you heard about the hoopla that occurred last year."

"The Gary thing. Yeah, I know."

"True, but everyone here knows that Jimmy had a big part in making the 'Gary thing' happen."

"I heard a lot of stuff got pinned on him."

"Yeah, but vandalizing the town clock tower? Sabotaging the big football game? Getting teachers fired? That was all him."

"…really?" Clay asked. Jimmy didn't mention that in his lecture.

"That's just scratching the surface. I'm not trying to completely condemn the guy. He did 'save the school.' It's just…well, Jimmy has a way of making friends to get stuff from them. One time, he trashed the observatory just to make sure we'd cooperate in sabotaging the game."

"…I thought that was all him?"

"The idea was all his and he carried it out. We were just unwitting pawns to his dungeon master. And Pete…well, he's just weird."

"Like how?"

"I don't know. That way weird people are. You know what I mean."

"…no."

"Just trust me. But I gave tarried here too long. If you need anything, inform my comrades and I. We can't beat up the jocks, but there's more than one way to kick someone in the balls. Fare the well, musical knight."

With that, Melvin walked out of view down the hallway. Clay sat there for a moment thinking about what Melvin said before walking over and locking his door. The last thing he needed right now for was more people to lecture and confuse him more than they already have…


	3. Free Ride

" _Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Do you feel inadequate in today's overly political society? Do you feel guilty for enjoying the hedonistic pleasures God created America for? Do you like watching wanton mayhem and listening to heavy metal until your eardrums bleed?' If you answered yes, it's time for you to stop being a pussy and indulge yourself with a night of 'Monster Mayhem XXX: The Revenge!'_

 _That's right, folks! God gave man the power to create and these dangerously ingenious maniacs have created monster trucks that rival the Creation itself. For one night only, watch overcompensating rednecks do what they do best and use gas guzzling death machines to crush, smash and pulverize foreign imports and fagotty looking hybrid cars to their hearts' content._

 _But don't feel like they get to have all the fun. We got everything a self-respecting voyeuristic Republican can ask for! Cold beer! Hot food! Busty women in tight clothing! And not a single homosexual or liberal fruitcake in sight! That's right, folks! 'Monster Mayhem XXX: The Revenge!' Because the politicians can't take our trucks away from us, damn it!"_

Clay groaned and rubbed his eyes as his alarm blocked blared the radio commercial. He thought he set the alarm to play something from his playlist, but he must have switched it to the wrong setting. Well, live and learn.

He rolled himself out of bed, switched off the radio and knelt down beside the bed to pray. There was a lot on his mind at the moment and he needed some clarity. He didn't expect to get an immediate answer anytime soon, but it's not like he was in a hurry. It was Sunday and he didn't have to think about school for a whole other day.

After some quality prayer time, Clay got to his feet and stretched. His side still felt tender where Trent and the bullies kicked him, so he was a little more gentle than usual. Uncle Hyrum got him in a habit of stretching and exercising every day to make sure he never got cramps or stiff joints at work. Aside from that, there was something pleasurable about stretching out a muscle. That feeling of relieving tension bit by bit and releasing frustrations made things a little more bearable when preparing for the day ahead.

As he rolled onto the floor to do sit-ups, Clay's mind became more alert. With it came a replay of everything that happened yesterday from the moment he arrived to the moment he locked his door. It felt like so much had happened in so little time. He wanted to remain optimistic though. Jimmy and Pete had been nice to him so far. Melvin seemed like he wanted to be a friend. And Lola…well, Clay wasn't sure what that was all about, but she must have liked him a little. Girls didn't usually pat a guy on the butt unless they were interested. Or so he assumed. Maybe it was some weird East Coast thing like garbage plates and baseball.

Once Clay finished his light workout, he picked up his towel and shower kit. It was still early enough that Clay might have the showers to himself unless anyone else was a morning person in the dorm. That and Clay wanted to make sure he had plenty of time to get ready.

As he unlocked and opened his door, however, something immediately caught his attention. A hastily made paper sign was taped on the door with something written in red ink. Clay shifted to get a better look, only to not be surprised with what was written:

' _The Crabblebitch lives here'_

Clay sighed. Trent wasn't going to let up on him anytime soon and apparently he wanted all the guys to know the nickname he coined. Clay still failed to grasp how this kind of harassment was meant to 'toughen him up,' but he didn't want to think about that at the moment. So he pulled the sign off and tossed it into his garbage can. It must have been put up late at night, so hopefully not a lot of people saw it…

After an uneventful shower, Clay returned to his room and opened up his dresser. He had spent most of last night sorting out his clothes in groups, which seemed frivolous since they'd probably end up disorganized after another week or two. Still, he made sure to set aside one spot for nothing but his dress attire. He would have to buy an iron to get the creases out at some point, but for now he couldn't be a beggar. He had to admit too that aside from those creases, these were some nice suits his mom bought him. 

He pulled one of his suits off a hangar along with a white button up shirt and a tie. It was funny, but the idea of wearing a uniform didn't seem odd to Clay after all the Sundays he spent wearing suits. Something about being 'dressed up' made him feel comfortable. Like he was that much more responsible and adult like, yet still a kid at heart. That and the brand his mom bought was a slightly looser fit. Form fitting suits didn't last as long in comparison.

He threw on his attire effortlessly and slipped into a pair of dress shoes as he walked back to the door. He figured he still had plenty of time, but he didn't want to delay. Like Uncle Hyrum always said, it was better to be five minutes early than a minute late.

As he locked the door behind him, however, he heard someone approach from down the hall. 

"Hey Clay," Pete said in his usually soft-spoken tone.

"Oh hey," Clay replied relieved it wasn't someone else.

"What are you all dressed up for?" Pete asked as he draped a towel over his shoulder.

"Oh, you know…church," Clay replied.

"Church? Didn't think of you as a church guy."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It makes sense, but…I dunno."

"Huh," Clay replied a little confused. He didn't seem like a church guy? That was a new one. "Do you know the fastest way to town?"

"Well you don't have a bike, so just take the bus. I think most of the churches are on the third stop."

"Thanks," Clay said as he started to walk away. 

"So what faith are you?" Pete asked. "Catholic? Lutheran?"

"No, uh…Latter-Day Saint," Clay replied.

"…what's that?"

"'Mormons.'"

"Really?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Pete replied. "Never met a Mormon before."

"Are you religious?"

"Nah. I go with my parents for Christmas and Easter, but it's not my thing."

"Fair enough. I'll see you later then."

"Cool," Pete said as walked towards the shower.

It was then that Clay noticed that Pete had a slight limp. Funny. He never paid attention to that before. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that, especially if it was something serious. Whatever the case was, it didn't seem to bother Pete as he continued on his way, so Clay figured to leave that line of questioning for another day.

He then walked out the dorm and made his way to the front of the school. It was kind of peaceful outside. The sun was still low, the skies were clear and there were only a handful of students and prefects walking about. Far from the anarchy that was going on when Clay first arrived, though he was sure it would be business as usual when he got back. Hopefully he could dodge Trent when that happened though. 

Clay passed through the main gate and spotted a bus stop close by. Funny enough, there were actually a couple of students waiting there too and they were also dressed up. Maybe they were going to church too? Whatever the case, none of them were Trent or his goons, so Clay felt like he was in the clear. 

He casually walked to the bus stop, a little suspicious that no one seemed to notice his arrival. A couple of them were busy talking about something and the others were listening to music, so he figured it was best not to bother them. 

A few minutes passed by as Clay patiently waited for the bus to arrive. There wasn't a schedule of any kind available, so it was uncertain how long this would take. Probably best to ask and find out for sure.

"Excuse me," Clay said to one of the students nearby, who pulled out one of their ear buds as they looked at him. "What time does the bus arrive?" 

The student shrugged and put his ear bud back in. 

…ok, that wasn't helpful. Clay sighed as he stood on his tiptoes to see if he could spot a bus coming down either road.

"Seriously, daddy?" Someone whined approaching on Clay's left. "Aw, why not?" 

He turned to see a girl walking to the bus stop while on a cell phone. He recognized her from the other day when Jimmy pointed out her group, though she was dressed much more casually than everyone else at the stop. That still meant she was wearing some really expensive looking jewelry and a dress that likely cost more than Clay's wardrobe, but casual relatively speaking.

"I don't want to spend time with her," she continued whining into the phone. "…because it's like spending time with my sister, daddy. All she wants to do is go to the mall…I know I like to go to the mall too, but not like her. She doesn't even buy anything cool…do I have to?...yes, five minutes with her would kill me, daddy. Please, can we do something else? …fine, I didn't want to come over anyway. …love you too, daddy."

She ended her call and pouted with her arms crossed. Clay knew better than to get involved with family stuff like that. Unfortunately, she seemed to have decided he would be an outlet for her frustrations.

"Seriously, can you believe the nerve of some parents?" She said to him. "They act like it's not weird for their kids to hang out with a step mom who's barely out of college. I mean really, do I look like a reality television star to them?"

"I guess—"

"I mean, yeah my mom was younger than my dad too," she said cutting him off. "But ew! I love daddy, but he needs to know that my time is valuable. I have other things I want to do with my day then listen to her whine and complain about whatever dumb shit she's thinking about."

"Well—"

"And really, he thinks that 'I'll pay for it' is going to cover that? He already pays for everything else anyway. That's like threatening a snowman with snowballs."

Clay figured that he was not a part of whatever conversation she was having, so he tried to use this gap in the conversation to look away. She was too quick for him, however.

"Hey, you're that new guy," she said finally acknowledging his presence.

"Hm?"

"Yeah, you're that guy Trent beat up."

Clay rolled his eyes. Was that how everyone is going to address him now?

"I know, right," she continued. "Street fighting is so lower class. So what did you say to him?"

"What?"

"Someone said you yelled something at him right before he knocked you on the ground. Did you insult him? Call his mom a whore? Say he was gay?" 

"…no…" Clay replied. 

"Really? Huh, I guess the gossip isn't always right," she said as she looked up and down his suit. "Hm, cheap suit…creases…designer tie knock off…you're going to church, right?"

"…yeah," Clay said feeling a little weirded out that she could deduce that from what he was wearing.

"Daddy says religious people are brainwashed sheep being fed fairy tales to compensate for their own shortcomings, but I respect people who truly believe and are comfortable wearing anything they want because of it."

"…thanks," Clay replied. He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep talking to her, but the bus wasn't arriving anytime soon and he didn't want to be rude.

"So what's your name?" She asked.

"Clay."

"I'm Pinky," she replied. "What brought you to Bullworth?" 

"…school?" 

"No, silly. Why are you here? Did your parents get tired of having you around the house? Are they on vacation?"

"…just, here for school…I guess."

"Ok," she said. "Daddy always said boarding school was character building, but I'm sure he wanted to have me out so he could 'be an adult' with my step mom."

Clay felt a surge of discomfort at her frankness.

"Sorry," Pinky then said. "I'm not used to having chit-chats with 'normal people.' I read an article that said socializing with lower classes helps build productive work relationships in the future, but honestly I don't know what kind of stuff people like you talk about. I mean, I'm sure you talk about a lot of similar things like money, family, stock reports…ugh, that bored me even mentioning that. Anyway, I'm being a chatterbox here. You say something, quiet guy."

"…like what?"

"I don't know. Did Trent do that to your ear?"

"No," Clay immediately said tussling some hair over that ear.

"That's good to hear. Must have been a factory accident or something"

As if it was an answer to a prayer, the bus came into view in the distance. 

"Which church are you going to?" She asked. 

"The Latter…the Mormon church," Clay said figuring that using the nickname was easier.

"Oh? You're a Mormon? Daddy said Mormons hate gay people and have a bunch of wives so they can do kinky sex orgies." 

"…well…we don't." 

"Yeah, that's what I told daddy too. I figured most of the stuff he said was nonsense. I mean, really. Does anyone really believe in magic underwear?"

Clay decided not to answer that question, mostly because he didn't know the exact details to explain it, as the bus pulled up and the door opened.

"'scuse me," Pinky said as she sauntered along and entered the bus before anyone else could line up. Clay felt a momentary sense of relief that the conversation was over. He didn't even mind a lack of a goodbye.

He quickly moved to the back of the line and eventually made his way onto the bus. Pete said three stops to the churches if he remembered correctly. Hopefully it wasn't a long ride.

The doors closed behind him as Clay looked for a good seat. He figured he could just walk to the back and—

"I saved you a seat, Clay," Pinky then said patting the spot next to her on the front seat.

Clay wasn't sure if he was exasperated or surprised that she considered saving a seat for him, but he figured he couldn't refuse. Plus, most of the seats were taken. He could have sworn someone else on the bus gave him a weird look as he sat down and prepared himself for another barrage of Pinky's thoughts.

"So, a Mormon kid at our school…" Pinky said as the bus started to drive. "Do you have any family here?"

"No," Clay replied. "They're all back in Utah."

"How many brothers and sisters?"

"One each."

"Really? I thought Mormons had big families."

"Not mine."

"Youngest?"

"Oldest."

"Ah. The guinea pig of the family," she said. "What do your parents do?" 

"My mom works at a law firm."

"What about your daddy?"

"…he, um…" Clay stammered. "He died a while ago."

"Oh dear," Pinky said surprised. "I'm sorry. Well at least you don't have to worry about your mom marrying some young college guy. I hear trophy husbands aren't nearly as popular." 

"…I guess."

"Hey, pauper!" A guy with a very fancy sounding accent said approaching them.

Clay and Pinky turned to see two more students dressed in blue vests walk down the aisle behind the two of them as the bus made its first stop.

"Is this ruffian bothering you, Pinky?" One of them said.

"No, Justin," Pinky replied annoyed. "He's my guest."

"This chap?" The other student said sitting in the seat behind them. "Pinky, darling, you can do better than associating with one of Hopkins's stooges." 

"He's not a 'stooge,' Chad," Pinky replied as the bus continued. "He's a hard working Mormon from a single parent household. He's got integrity."

"Ha!" Chad mocked at Clay. "Going to pray to Joseph Smith, are we?" 

Clay was feeling the urge to move, but Justin was still blocking the aisle.

"No," Clay replied.

"Gah, what are those ghastly threads?" Justin said. "Do you shop exclusively at 'bland and tasteless?'" 

"Oh, give him a break," Pinky replied.

"What's he going to do?" Chad said. "I hear this chap is a right ole teddy bear."

"Well little did you know," Pinky said. "He'd be inclined to trash the two of you right now, but he's not fighting people because that's what got him sent here in the first place."

Clay's eyes almost popped out of his head he opened them so hard. Why the heck was she telling them about that? And did she actually know that or was she guessing? 

"You see that," she said pointing to his ear. "The other guy got it worse."

"Yeah, right," Justin said.

"Oh you don't believe me?" Pinky said. "Well then you're clearly as dumb as your parents are rich because even those grease balls can see that he's a fighter."

"Feh!" Chad scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it. If he was a real fighter, he'd prove it at the boxing ring. Otherwise, he's just a ninny with an ugly ear."

The bus pulled up to the next stop, which prompted Chad and Justin to start moving. 

"Later, pauper," Chad mocked as the two of them left.

Clay figured he was completely red with embarrassment by now as he turned to Pinky.

"What did you say that for?" He said with a stern whisper.

"I just built up your 'street cred,'" Pinky replied as the bus continued. "Even I know that being a tough guy on campus is important for people like you."

"But—"

"Look, you seem like a really cool guy and if we ever hang out in the future, I want to make sure that I'm around someone who's capable of defending my honor."

Clay didn't know what to even say to that, so he just continued his vacant, open-mouthed bewilderment as she continued.

"Besides, Chad needs to be knocked down a peg. That guy thinks he can replace Derby like putting on a glove. Jimmy was better at being in charge than he could be."

"…Jimmy?" Clay replied.

"Yeah, he beat up Derby and the other guys a while back. Part of his whole 'taking over the school' thing."

"…that was Gary."

"Well, Gary never beat up people like Jimmy did, even if he was a crazy sociopath. Still, Jimmy did stop people from fighting. Ugh, I wish I didn't kiss him so early so I wouldn't have such conflicting feelings about him."

So Jimmy kissed Lola, Pinky and was dating some other girl now? Clay wasn't sure what to think of that.

"Anyway," Pinky said. "You don't seem like the kind of guy Jimmy is."

"Really?"

"Maybe it's your…'Mormonism' but you seem more reasonable than him. Who knows? Maybe you can win Chad and the boys over someday." 

"I—"

"Well, maybe not completely unless you're family's rich, but if Derby could find a reason to like Jimmy, then I'm sure they can like you like I do."

It was then that Clay felt the bus come to a stop and figured that was his stop.

"Oh hey, gotta go," he said quickly standing up. 

"Ok," she replied. "It was nice talking to you. We'll have to do lunch sometimes."

"Uh, sure," he said hesitantly as he walked off and the doors closed behind him. "See ya."

He waited until the bus was safely out of view before exhaling deeply, resting his hands on his knees. That may just be the strangest experiences he had in a long time. In his effort to go to church, he somehow earned 'street cred' from a random girl hyping him up to a bunch of rich jerk wads. Why couldn't anything be easy with this place?

It was then he realized that he had gotten off a stop too early. He looked around until he spotted a group of church buildings...several minutes walk away. He groaned and began his trek to his chapel. Maybe a nice silent walk would do him some good before church... 

* * *

A gentle breeze wafted across Clay's face as he exited the chapel. Though it was weird going to church without his family, it was nice to have something familiar in this town to remind him of home. The congregation was smaller in Bullworth, but that was expected with the east coast. At least they were all incredibly inviting. They even had a regular activity night for young men like back in Utah that he could join up in. He would have to make sure his schedule didn't get in the way.

He saw some of the other church congregations exiting their buildings as well. There were a lot of families at these buildings, along with a few of the unsavory types of people looking for some kind of solace for what Clay assumed were grievous sins. He also saw a few of the other kids from the bus stop, some with their families and some on their own like he was.

One person in particular caught his attention. A tall skinny girl with brown hair draped down to her shoulders who was exceptionally pretty even by his very lenient hormone induced standards. If Clay remembered correctly, she had her hair up in a ponytail when he saw her hanging out with the jocks while Jimmy talked about the cliques. What was interesting, however, was that she seemed to take some precautions in ensuring no one recognized her while she left her church. She took a little longer than usual to leave until she seemed confident that the coast was clear. She then slipped on a pair of shades and a dumpy looking jacket before walking out the door.

However, she clearly didn't expect Clay to be looking at her from right across the street. Because the instant she saw him, she stopped dead in her tracks. If Clay saw correctly too, she seemed to be blushing out of embarrassment. He wasn't exactly sure what was awkward about the situation, but he figured he could diffuse it a little by waving to her politely. Which didn't seem to help much as she quickly darted away, lifting up her jacket collar to obscure her face.

Clay stood there awkwardly watching her leave. Was everyone from his school this weird or was it just him? He really hoped neither cases were true, because both would lead to some discomforting answers. He decided to chalk it up to more Bullworth weirdness as he walked off his building's grounds and towards the town.

For the next half hour, he decided to check out the town and see what the area was like. Bullworth certainly wasn't that much better looking than the academy, but it did have a few more…luxuries to choose from than the campus. It was worth scoping out the area to keep an eye out for anything he'd need to get in the future or for activities he could enjoy. Most of the usual places for a town were there: a bank, hair salons, markets, restaurants, clothing stores, the town hall and more.

There were also a large number of bike and car shops in the area, likely from when the automobile industry was a bigger part of the community. There were also some of the more…unsavory parts of town like the pornography store and some run down places that Clay would likely keep as far away from as possible. Overall, a pretty average place.

Soon Clay felt his stomach rumble. He did sort of skip breakfast to get to church and lunch was passing him by soon. Checking his watch, he decided he should check out one of the restaurants. He had subsisted the last few days on airline food and vending machine snacks, so he was in dire need of some actual food. The question was though: what places were the best ones? He had passed by a few questionable hole in the wall restaurants already and didn't want to risk getting food poisoning so soon.

After a short walk debating on a few places that looked promising, Clay figured he should probably ask somebody for a recommendation. Maybe Jimmy or Pete were around so he could ask them. Or he could probably ask a local, though they may be a bit biased having only lived here their whole lives theoretically. Regardless, Clay strolled down the street to see who he could ask.

As he passed by an alleyway, he heard some noises that caught his attention.

"Get away from me, you grease balls!" A kid with a deep voice shouted.

Grease balls…wasn't that what Lola called those leather jacket guys? Clay stopped and turned to see what the commotion was.

Down the alleyway, he saw a jock he recognized from the other day surrounded by five other Greasers wielding bats. This looked like something he should not get involved with, but he couldn't just walk away. That jock guy was totally unarmed.

"I told you to stop perving around our girls, Casey," a large black skinned Greaser said pointing the tip of his bat at Casey's face. "You jocks aren't welcome around the garage."

"I wasn't perving anyone, buddy," Casey replied pushing the bat away from his face. "And you're one to talk, Norton. Crabblesnitch said you guys are suspended from the garage for three more weeks.

"We were allowed a day to prep for chop shop," Norton replied. "And Sandy already told you to back off."

"She's the one who came on me, buddy! I can't help it if they prefer someone who's not a bicycle humping limp dick."

Norton shoved the end of the bat into Casey's stomach, causing him to wince and stumble against a wall. Ok, so two dickheads were dick measuring each other. This really wasn't Clay's business.

Still, they were attacking that guy five-to-one, which was hardly a fair fight. Clay wanted to tell someone, but there wasn't an adult or policeman in sight. Of course. Clay had come to learn that adults and prefects were only helpful when it was convenient for them.

He looked back to the scene as the Greasers prepared to beat up the jock. He had to do something. Looking around, he saw a baseball on the ground. A thought ran through his head. Maybe if he could throw the ball as a distraction, it could give the jock a chance to run. The guy looked big enough to push his way out of the group if he had an advantage. Still, that meant they might see him too. If he could hide right after he threw that, maybe he could avoid any repercussions. Plus, he would really prefer not having to run in his Sunday best.

After a quick exhale, Clay hurled the ball. He was aiming for right in the middle of the group, hoping that it would attract enough people's attention.

Unfortunately, Clay's aim was off and the ball struck Norton right in the back.

"AH!" Norton shouted.

Clay hesitated a moment too long seeing Norton's reaction, as the Greasers all turned and looked directly at him.

Even worse, everything else about the plan was working perfectly. With everyone else distracted, Casey shoved one of the Greasers to the side and barreled his way out the alleyway…right towards Clay.

"Get them!" Norton shouted.

And that was Clay's cue to leave!

Clay bolted down the sidewalk as Casey and the Greasers followed right behind him. His dress shoes clacked loudly and the sides of his suit jacket flailed in the wind. This was totally the wrong type of clothing to wear for a chase and he couldn't do anything about that right now without risking getting a baseball bat to the stomach like Casey did…or worse.

Clay heard someone catching up to him and tried running faster. His feet began to ache at the dress shoes creaked with each step. The guy behind him was getting closer. Shoot! He really, really didn't want to fight like this. He just hoped he could round the corner and bump into somebody who could help him.

Then he heard the guy behind him speak.

"Hop the fence!" Casey shouted behind him.

Clay didn't know what he was talking about until he saw a wooden fence approaching on his left. Hop the fence in his clothes? What if there was mud or dirt or garbage? Still, it would put a slight barrier between him and the Greasers if there wasn't anything.

He approached the fence and jumped to hop over it. However, he felt his shoe slip against the wood since they didn't have enough traction. Casey had no problem climbing the fence, however, as he vaulted over it and landed with a splash. Great, there was something wet on the other side.

"We're going to rain on you, new kid," one of the Greasers shouted as they got closer.

Looks like he was going to have to get wet then. Clay scrambled his feet against the wood and flailed himself over the top of the fence as a Greaser swing wildly towards him. He fell and landed with a wet thud onto the ground below, only to realize it was mud. Great! Now his suit was completely wet and dirty. And Casey was nowhere to be seen. Just what he—

He then heard one of the Greasers jump onto the fence. Clay scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could down the alleyway. He could hear the Greasers land in the mud behind him as he quickly made a sharp turn down an alley leading to the street. He just needed to run out to the open and—

Before he could reach the street however, someone nearby grabbed him and pulled him into an open door on the side of the building. Clay yelped, fearing the worse, before the person let him go and locked the door behind them quickly but quietly.

It was then Clay noticed the person who saved him. It was yet another girl he had seen the day before, but from the nerd clique. However, she was wearing what appeared to be a waitress outfit rather than the green uniform from before. He still recognized her though from her glasses, dirty blonde hair tied up with a bow and slightly slouching posture.

She put a finger up to her lips to shush him as they heard the Greasers shout and run past the door. They stood in silence for a few seconds until the Greasers seemed to be out of earshot.

"Phew…" The girl sighed looking to Clay. "I think the coast is clear."

She opened the door again and looked around to be sure before walking outside.

"I walk out for fresh air for a few seconds and the world goes crazy," she said before looking back to Clay. "Are you alright?"

Clay nodded before walking to the door, doing a quick double take before leaning against the frame. He'd rather not be completely exposed in case those guys found their way back to him.

"…you're new here, right?" She asked after getting a good look at Clay.

"Yeah," Clay replied feeling a little mud crusting under his eye and wiping it off. He would be a little more conversational if he wasn't freaking out internally about ruining his one good suit.

"I figured. I usually make a point to memorize everyone's face who goes to our school and you didn't look familiar. When did you get here?"

"Oh uh," Clay said surprised she didn't immediately recognize him. Perhaps that meant she wasn't there when Trent bullied him. "Yesterday."

"And you've already got Greasers chasing you? And I thought Jimmy was a troublemaker from the get-go."

Clay sighed. "They were ganging up on that Casey guy. I just couldn't let them beat him up."

"Oh," she said a little surprised. "What did you do?"

"I…" Clay mumbled a bit. "Kinda…sorta…threw a baseball at Norton. On accident."

"You…accidentally threw a baseball at Norton?"

"I was aiming for the ground. I don't play sports."

"I'm not judging. I don't either. Just surprised is all."

The girl checked for something in her pocket while Clay took his suit jacket off. He figured he should be a little more grateful than he had been so far.

"Thanks," he said.

She looked up inquisitively.

"You know…for helping me."

"Oh, you're welcome," she said with a smile. "I would have felt bad if you got beat up twice since you got here."

Clay groaned. Ok, so she did see him get beat up.

"Jimmy told me about a new kid being picked on and I kind of deduced that was you based on how he described you."

…or she was just a good guesser.

"Yeah…" Clay said. "So…does everyone pick on people here at Bullworth?"

"Not everyone but…" she replied unable to find whatever she was looking for. "Damn it…hey, uh, do you, um, have a cigarette on you?"

Clay raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Nah, I don't smoke."

"Oh. Yeah, I mean, I don't really either. I just, you know, try it out now and then for, uh, research purposes. You know. I mean, yeah it's ironic an aspiring cancer research doctor would smoke cigarettes but, you know…"

An awkward silence lingered as Clay waited for her to finish that thought.

"Please don't tell anyone about that."

"Hm?"

"I don't smoke on campus…I mean, not anywhere people can see me, but the teachers have been getting stricter on people they even suspect smoke cigarettes or marijuana. I should quit, but—"

"Its fine," Clay said reassuring. "I won't."

"Oh…thanks!" She said with a big toothy grin. "Hey, uh, my shift finishes in a little bit. Since I sort of saved you and all, maybe you could stick around and walk me home?"

Clay raised both eyebrows surprised.

"I just…you know, I just…I don't like walking home alone and you see what happens when people want to harass other people."

"Oh…well, um, sure."

"Excellent," she said before looking at his mud covered clothes. "Sorry about your clothes."

"Yeah…" he said looking down at the stained areas. "Is there a clothing store nearby?"

"Oh sure," she said pointing down the alley. "There's a thrift store right down there. They could get you some cheap clothes. I'd say go to the laundromat too, but they're closed Sundays."

"Yeah, I figured," he said. "Thanks."

"Anytime," she said as she passed by him to enter back into what he assumed was the diner she worked at, before stopping and turning around to face him. "Oh, silly. I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Beatrice."

"Oh, uh, Clay," he replied.

"Nice to meet you, Clay. And uh, if you're hungry, just come back around the front and I can take your order."

With that, Beatrice closed the door and Clay was left by himself in the alley. Well, she seemed nice. He cautiously made his way down the alley to look for the thrift store she mentioned. This wasn't exactly how he expected his day to turn out, but he figured it couldn't…no, he wouldn't finish that thought. Best not to jinx things...


	4. Nice and Greasy

Clay sat patiently at a table nearby the door of the diner, the sun lightly toasting his arm through the window nearby. He looked up to the clock, which read 3:00 P.M. Beatrice would be getting off work soon. He didn't assume she would be the type to take her time, but he wasn't too bothered sitting there for a little longer. Not like he had much else to do.

He looked up to see a few of the waitresses waiting on other customers while he saw people outside going about their Sunday business. He had to duck out of view a few times when he saw some Greasers pass by, but he figured he was being paranoid. Then again, if being paranoid meant not getting harassed, then he was fine with being paranoid.

He looked over to the bag next to him containing his mud covered clothing and groaned. He'd have to wait until tomorrow to get those washed properly and he hoped those stains wouldn't be permanent. It's not like his mom wouldn't send him a new suit if he asked, but he would rather not trouble her with that. It was only three days since he left home after all.

He twiddled his thumbs and leaned over the table as he waited. He hadn't really talked much to Beatrice while she was on her shift since they hit a lunch rush right when he got back from the thrift store. She did go out of her way to make sure she waited his table though, so she still wanted him to stick around. And at least now she would recognize him wearing that cheesy red and white t-shirt with the khaki jeans and blue tennis shoes. He also bought a hat and some sunglasses just to be safe, but figured he would wait to put those on. Best not to look completely shady while he was sitting there.

Shady…he just realized he made an unintentional pun. He would have pat himself on the back if he wasn't in public.

After a couple more minutes, he saw Beatrice walk out from the kitchen dressed in a casual skirt. She set her waitress uniform on the counter and walked over to a large man reading a newspaper in front of the cash register.

"I'm finished, Mr. Kovacs," she said.

"Ok," the man said with a thick Brooklyn accent without moving his eyes from the paper. He reached down and handed her a small envelope. "Here's your last paycheck. Get goin' now."

"Thanks," Beatrice said taking the envelope and approaching Clay. "I'm ready."

Clay nodded picking up his bag and following her out. Before leaving, he looked back to see that the man still had not looked away from his newspaper. Thinking back, that guy had been reading that same newspaper the entire time Clay had been in the restaurant. Even when he was processing receipts, he was reading that paper. He was either an intensely focused reader or a very slow one. Maybe both?

Clay exited the door and put on his hat as he stood next to Beatrice.

"Going incognito?" Beatrice said pointing to his sunglasses in his hand.

"Better that than getting beat up," he said about to put them on.

"You know they'll still see you tomorrow, right? Some of them might even share a class with you."

That caused him to pause halfway through putting them on. Why did someone have to say something reasonable for a change when he didn't need it? He sighed before putting the shades in his pants pocket.

"I'm still wearing the hat," he said as he motioned for them to walk.

The town seemed unusually quiet at this, but Clay chalked that up to it being a Sunday. A lot of stores in Utah were closed on Sundays too or at least closed earlier, meaning people had fewer reasons to be out of the house for long periods of time. It was kind of peaceful to be honest.

"Ugh, I'm so glad to be done," Beatrice said as they walked. "Summer jobs are nice, but I'm excited to hit the books again."

Clay nodded as he noticed that they were walking past one of the bus stop signs.

"You don't take the bus back?" Clay asked.

"Sometimes, but I felt like walking today," Beatrice replied. "My doctor said it's good for my posture to get regular exercise. The curses of being a voracious reader."

Clay shrugged. Fair enough, he thought to himself. He didn't know what voracious meant, but he got the gist.

"So Jimmy said you're from Utah," Beatrice replied. "I've never met anyone from there."

"Yeah," Clay replied. "It's a nice little place. When did you meet with Jimmy?"

"Last night. A bunch of us get together on the weekends and hang out."

Clay wondered for a bit why he wasn't invited, but he chalked it up to being the new guy and people wanting to 'evaluate him' before inviting him into their circles.

"Honestly, it's nice being around friends from other cliques. I don't feel nearly as ostracized."

"Do you feel…ostracized from your own group?"

"Sometimes," she said with a sigh. "I know they like to circulate the rumors people say about me. They're not true, by the way. I'm not sleeping with anyone."

"I didn't hear anything, so you're good."

"Thanks," she said. "So why did your parents send you here?"

"They…thought being out here would kind me balanced or something."

"Balanced?"

"I don't know," Clay said as a police officer passed on their right. "Just…you know, they wanted me to have a fresh start."

"Ah. I see. My parents were alumni, so they already had it planned for me to go here. Plus, I was way too smart for the public schools."

"Is that so?"

"Yup," she said. "I was voted 'Most likely to over perform' three years straight in middle school."

Clay wasn't sure if that was completely a compliment, but he kept that to himself.

"Besides," Beatrice continued. "You got to be the best of the best to get into medical school these days. I won't be able to cure cancer if the only job I can get is…ugh, being a nurse."

"Aren't nurses paid decently?" Clay asked.

"Yeah, but it's just so boring. I have so much more I can offer doing actual medical work. I've studied the human anatomy down to the last cell. I know all the functions of major organs. I can even give you the exact number of electrons that differentiates every element on the periodic table. That stuff can't go to waste! The fate of the world could depend on my knowledge!"

An awkward pause lingered as Clay struggled to say anything in response. Thankfully, Beatrice cleared the air with a sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "Jimmy says I need a hobby, but it's hard when you've put all your eggs in one basket for so long. Plus, hobbies are just so…boring. Do you have any hobbies you like doing?"

"Um…" Clay thought. "You know, drawing, music...drama?"

"Oh? You act?"

He didn't know why he said that other than it was something Melvin suggested he could do if he joined the drama club. Clay had never actually acted in a play before. He just liked watching plays and musicals. His pool of hobbies he could name off the top of his head was a bit shallow though, so it was better than nothing.

"Uh, you know, I mean…" Clay said thinking up something to say. "Mostly small stuff. Like, never leading man or anything…"

"That's still cool. I've never been really into plays, but I respect people with the confidence to handle large crowds."

"Yeah…" Clay replied trying to conceal his fib. "That's me alright. Mr. Confidence."

Clay could see the school in the distance as they continued to walk. They were making pretty good time all things considered. The conversation wasn't too bad either compared to some of the other people he had talked to lately.

"What's your class schedule like?" Beatrice asked.

"Uh…" Clay said recalling his schedule. "I think I have English first block."

"Oh nice," Beatrice replied. "I have English first too. Don't worry if you smell a little alcohol on Mr. Galloway's breath. He's trying to quit after everything that happened last year and he might have a relapse or two."

Alcohol? So the school hired drinkers apparently. That was…good to know?

"If you need someone to sit next to tomorrow, I usually get to class a few minutes early. I can save a spot," she continued.

"Oh uh, thanks. I don't want to be a hassle—"

"Not at all," she said. "I'd be happy to do that for you."

Clay smiled as they approached the bridge leading to the campus. Some of the students rode bicycles nearby past cars coming from the opposite direction. They crossed the street to the other sidewalk as they saw one of the students riding a lawn mower on the nearby grass area, with a prefect watching him like a hawk the whole time.

"You feel ready for tomorrow?" Beatrice asked.

"…I guess," Clay replied. "I mean, tomorrow's coming no matter what."

"Yeah. That is how the day and night cycle works."

They chuckled a little as the entered the campus and arrived at the intersection leading to each dorm.

"Thanks for walking back with me," Beatrice said with a smile.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome," Clay said.

"We should probably change back in our uniforms to be safe. You know, wouldn't want the prefects to bother us."

"Yeah, no kidding…"

Before Clay started to leave though, Beatrice walked up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The hairs on the back of Clay's neck stood up immediately.

"You're a nice guy," Beatrice said stepping back and starting to walk off. "See you in class."

Clay stood there awkwardly for a moment. Did he really do that much to warrant a kiss on the cheek? He just assumed he was doing what anyone would do. Then again, should he really question what happened? She apparently thought he was nice enough to want to kiss, which was a comforting feeling. But did she expect that to go further? Like committing to a relationship or something really soon? Having a girlfriend would be nice, but it was just his second day here…

He stopped himself as he saw a prefect walking nearby. He was definitely overthinking what happened and he was also definitely out in the open not wearing his uniform. Better to overthink something in the safety of his own room than deal with more nonsense from the prefects. With that, he rushed off to the door…

* * *

Clay tugged at the collar of his uniform as he walked around the school building towards the south of campus. He took a nap for an hour before an intense feeling of cabin fever settled on him. So he figured he could take the time to explore the campus a little further before it got dark. As long as he steered clear of Trent and the Greasers, he could probably get around easily. Plus, he ran away from the Greasers once and he felt he could do so again.

A few students passed by on either side of him as he walked. It always felt like there was someone out and about on this campus, which was both good and bad only in the unpredictability of who Clay might run into. Thankfully, he had his regular running shoes on so he wouldn't be unprepared.

A soft humidity was felt in the air as Clay walked by the fountain. He stopped and looked up at the giant statue of the school's mascot, an anthropomorphic bull. It was an old statue, but also kind of cool. He wasn't all too bothered about 'school spirit,' but at least they had a half decent animal for their mascot. The setting sun casting light around the statue was admittedly majestic looking too.

He then heard the faint sound of music coming from a few areas nearby. A quick look around revealed the sources. Apparently, there were a few parties going on nearby at different parts of the campus. To his left was that Harrington House place where the Preppies hung out at, with a bunch of kids in rich clothing standing outside talking while very fancy music played. To his right was what looked like the garage where he could hear old school rock n' roll. Even though he couldn't see anyone, he knew for a fact that the garage was where Greasers liked to hang out based on his little encounter today. Though they technically weren't allowed around the garage, so it's possible that they were sneaking around there. That or they were just literally sitting outside the garage if the suspension was literally them not being allowed INSIDE the garage.

Further south of the campus, however, Clay heard more contemporary rock music coming from the gym. Odds were that the jocks were having their own little celebration there, like the other cliques, to savor the last bits of summer before class started. He doubted they were very big parties considering the student body size, but he was sure they were having fun.

A thought then crossed his mind to go to one of the parties. It was a dumb thought, since he figured he wasn't welcome around the Greasers, but he felt like he should do something since he was outside. He looked back and forth between the Harrington House and the gym. Which group would he feel more comfortable around?

"Did you hear about that horrid new gym teacher they hired?" A voice from behind him said.

Clay turned to see that Justin guy from that morning walking with a group of preppies in matching blue uniforms. They scoffed and chuckled as Justin continued.

"I mean, with the money put into school sports, you'd think they would hire a teacher with actual class?" Justin continued. "But this new woman is just as boorish and lacking in taste as the last one."

"I almost feel bad saying for I'd rather have the pervert back," one of the other Preps said.

The group then noticed Clay without breaking their stride.

"Ignore the Mormon, boys," Justin said. "Lest he spread his hatred for black people and gays among us."

The group chuckled as they walked towards the Harrington house. Well…looks like Clay was going to the gym!

He quickly strolled away from the fountain and crossed the basketball courts to the gym's front entrance. Whether the Jocks would be more inviting than the Preps was to be seen. Jocks weren't exactly known for their sensible conversations and tolerance for non-Jock types. He was going to say it wouldn't hurt to at least try, but he was at Bullworth so that could be true.

He pushed open the door and entered the building. As he expected, it wasn't a huge group of people present. It was mostly a bunch of big tough guys in letterman jackets and other school appropriate wear, with a few students in regular clothing and several girls including that tall skinny girl he saw at the church earlier. A few tables had been laid out with refreshments, there were a couple adults acting as chaperones standing on the outskirts and the music he heard earlier was pumping out noisily over the building's speakers. Clearly the music was having an effect on some of the guys there though, as they were starting to get pretty rowdy and noisy. Maybe this wasn't exactly the right place to—

"Hey!"

Clay turned to see a familiar face approaching him and wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"Good to see you in one piece, buddy," Casey said. "How'd you get away from those idiots?"

"I, uh, got some help. You know?" Clay replied. He wasn't very specific on that, but he didn't feel like explaining everything anyway. Plus, he was a little annoyed that Casey totally abandoned him while they were fleeing.

"Nice," Casey said stepping back and leading Clay to the group. "Come on. Join the party."

Clay followed Casey cautiously. He could feel the eyes of most everyone there watching him. Some of them just looked and then returned to whatever they were doing. Some people were sizing him up. Others were judging him for one reason or another. He expected as much though, so he could live with it for now.

Casey stopped by a group of guys and a couple ladies, who all looked to Clay as he approached.

"Who's the dweeb?" A red haired jock asked.

"Yeah, who's the dweeb?" A large black jock with a deep voice repeated.

"This 'dweeb's' the guy who helped me escape from those Greaseballs today," Casey replied.

"This guy?" A skinny black jock said. "You made him seem a lot meaner looking."

"Looks are deceptive, Bo," Casey said. "This guy's got a hell of an arm. Hit Norton right in the back and Norton was all 'Ah! My back! Shit!'" He added doing what Clay assumed was a goofy imitation of Norton.

"You play baseball?" A red haired girl with a flinty tone of voice asked.

"Well…" Clay replied slightly unnerved by all the attention. "You know, sometimes. It was just a lucky shot."

"Lucky, 'schmucky,'" Casey scoffed. "That was a hell of a throw, buddy. So, introductions." Clay looked as Casey pointed to the red haired jock. "That's Dan."

Dan simply nodded in reply.

"That's Bo," Casey said pointing to the skinny black kid.

"Sup," Bo replied.

"That's the lovely miss Christy," Casey added pointing to the red haired girl.

"Hey!" Christy replied with a wave.

"And that's Damon," Casey said pointing to the large black guy.

Damon also nodded in reply.

"Oh and um," Casey said snapping his fingers towards the other girl trying to think of something. "Uh, what's your name again?"

"Janet!" The other girl, a young black girl with braided hair, said annoyed.

"Right, sorry. All these new people I got to keep track of."

"Yeah, because I'm sure I look so much like every other girl in this place."

"Hey, you all look good to me," Casey replied before looking back to Clay. "You got great timing by the way. We were just talking about getting back at those brain dead garage monkeys."

"Really?" Clay replied concerned.

"Yeah," Damon said. "You mess with one of us, you mess with us all. That's how Bullhorns handle their problems."

"Oorah!" The guys chanted.

"Oh geez," Janet replied rolling her eyes.

"Dan said he saw a bunch of bikes parked outside the garage," Casey said. "So we figured we'd wait until it got a little dark, sneak over and do a little damage."

Clay felt worry creep up slightly. Something about doing an 'eye for an eye' didn't feel right.

"You're just going to piss those goons off more," Janet replied.

"Oh what are they going to do about it?" Christy replied putting a hand on Bo's shoulder. "The boys can handle whatever they dish out."

"Damn right," Bo replied looking to Clay. "So, you in, slugger?"

The other guys all looked at him as they waited for Clay's decision. On the one hand, Clay wouldn't be fighting. On the other hand, they'd be in serious trouble if they were caught by the prefects or the Greasers.

"I…I don't know…"

"It'll take like three minutes tops, buddy," Casey said. "And hey, since you attacked them last time, you can just be a lookout for this. I'll owe you double that way. What do you say?"

Clay debated internally for a little bit longer, now seeing both the approving look of Christy and the disapproving look of Janet resting on him.

"..fine," he said.

"Good," Damon said. "Otherwise, we'd have to pound you to keep you quiet."

Clay's eyes widened.

"Nah, just messing with ya," Damon followed up with, giving Clay a friendly, if slightly too strong, jab to the shoulder. He kept cool to not show any pain as Damon continued. "Meet us over at the fountain in ten minutes. Don't be late."

The guys and Christy left to presumably get ready for their little payback, leaving Clay and Janet standing their awkwardly. Well, Clay was standing awkwardly. Janet was just looking at him annoyed.

"You don't have to do that, you know?" She said. "It's just going to make things worse."

"I mean," Clay said sheepishly. "They did try to beat him up with baseball bats."

"And 'doing damage' is how you want to handle it?

"Well…what else can we do?"

"Don't go," she said before thinking it over for a bit. "Or…"

"Or?"

"Or maybe we can do a little sabotage of our own."

Oh boy…Clay did not like the sound of that. Which she seemed to pick up on.

"Fine," she said starting to walk off. "You do what you want. I got this covered."

Clay watched as she also left the building. 'Got this covered?' That worried him. Was she going to tell the Greasers about the plan? He should probably check that out.

"Hey!" Someone then said from behind him.

Clay groaned internally. Why was he suddenly the center of so many people's attention?

He turned around to see the tall skinny girl approach him. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was dressed in her cheerleader outfit like he had seen her the other day. This time, however, she seemed…concerned? Bothered? He wasn't exactly sure why, but she had his attention now so he couldn't avoid whatever was coming.

"Are you following me or something?" The girl asked.

"…no," Clay said.

"Uh huh. And you just so happened to be hanging out with the Mormons right as I was at church?"

"…yeah. That's my church."

That seemed to surprise her. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"I've never seen you there before."

"I just moved here."

"So why did you wave at me like you knew me?"

Clay shrugged. "I dunno. I…I just wanted to be nice. Why were you trying to not be seen?"

"Because…" She said looking around to see if anyone was listening before continuing. "Because I don't need to draw any more attention than I've already had."

Clay looked at her confused.

"Geez, you really are new," she said with a sigh. "Ok, some creep took photos of me showering last year and posted them all over the town. I got a friend to take them down, but people still stalking me hoping to 'get a peek,' And if they see me going to church, then people will be all 'Oh, Mandy's such a bad girl because she did those sexy photos but goes to church too.' It's a potential blow to my ego that I really don't need right now."

Clay had both eyebrows raised listening to the story. That was…a lot to take in. It feels like he missed out on a lot that happened last year.

"Look, just…don't tell anyone about me being there, ok?" She continued. "I'm hoping for things to blow over by the time school starts. If everything's good after that, then whatever."

Clay paused for a second before nodding. "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks," she said about to walk away before turning back around. "So…you're a Mormon?"

"Yeah," Clay replied. Apparently that was going to be a thing he would deal with anywhere he went here.

"Hm…what do you think about Baptists?"

Clay raised an eyebrow at the question. That was…awfully forward.

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I don't have any problems with them."

"…ok," Mandy said. "My pastor said I shouldn't trust Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses, but I'm trying to put a little faith in you. So you better not say anything."

"I won't," Clay replied. "I promise."

"Cool," Mandy said before leaving.

Clay stood there wondering what exactly happened. Apparently he had to be more careful with who he made eye contact with in the future. At least that was better than he expected…maybe? He felt like he needed a drink after that though. And since he didn't drink alcohol, that punch over at the refreshment table would do…

Clay quickly made his way over to the fountain as darkness crept over the school. Why was he doing this? He technically didn't even owe Casey anything, so he was just doing this…just to do it. This was going against every principle he was taught. Still, he said yes and not being a man of his word was as bad as doing whatever the jocks were planning on doing. Or that's what he told himself.

He sat on the edge of the fountain to think more on this. Maybe he just needed a proper motivation. He didn't actually have any beef with the Greasers in that he never talked to any of them. Though he did get hit in the face with a door by one of them his first day here. And he knew he saw one of them watching while Trent beat him up. And they ruined his Sunday best clothes…

Come to think of it, he had enough motivation to justify this little act. Just this once, he told himself. Just once and maybe he wouldn't have to worry about any of this again.

He leaned back and dragged his fingers against the surface of the water…only to see a small layer of dirt on the tips. This fountain was in some desperate need of filtering.

"Kind of gross, huh?" A familiar voice said from behind him as if on cue.

Clay jumped off the edge and turned see Lola balancing on the edge on the other side. She jumped off and approached Clay in that usually sultry way she moved.

"Nice to see you again, cutie," she said. "What are you doing here all on your lonesome?"

"I, uh, just…" he said as he tried to not get too excited like he did yesterday. "Just, uh, waiting for someone."

"Well, I'm right here," she teased. "Wait no more."

"No, uh, just some people wanted me to wait here for, uh—"

"Fine, I get it," she said with a slight pout. "Still too busy for me, right? I can take a hint. I know when I'm not wanted. I just thought you were better than most of boys here."

"No, it's…" Clay said. "I…you can stay."

"You don't sound convincing," Lola said flirtatiously.

Clay sighed and tried to collect himself. "…y-you can stay. They should be here soon, but we can hang out."

Lola did a mock motion as if debating it over her decision before planting herself on the edge. "Ok, but only because you asked nicely."

Clay walked over and sat next to her. It was probably a bad idea having her stay, but when had something being clearly a bad idea stopped him lately?

"You keeping out of trouble?" Lola asked. "Hopefully you don't have any new bruises that need kissing."

"No, I just…you know…" He had a thought to continue, but her saying kissing triggered his young man lizard brain mentality and he forgot whatever he was going to say. So he moved on to something else. "Hey, what do you know about Norton?"

"Ugh, don't get me started," Lola replied. "Ever since my Johnny transferred to a different school, Norton's been throwing his weight around to keep the gang together. And then he has the nerve to kick me out of the group like I'm some hunk of meat."

Back to that again. That really seemed to bother Lola a lot.

"But what's a poor girl like me supposed to do without people to watch out for me?" She continued. "The preps think I'm a whore, the jocks are too stupid to appreciate someone beautiful like me and those nerds are just gross."

"What about Trent and his guys?"

"Cutie, I can assure you that none of the girls here are Trent's type," she said. "But whatever. His loss. Their loss. Everyone's loss. I have so much I can offer people, and all they do is say 'Lola, you're such a bitch' or 'Stop flirting with that guy while we're on a date.'"

Great…more self-absorption. Clay slouched forward and checked his watch. Casey and the other guys were running late. Big surprise. He twiddled his thumbs as he listened to Lola ramble on before she directed her attention back to him.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked.

"Hm?" Clay said not expecting that question.

"Just curious. I feel like honesty is the best policy when getting to know people, so I figured we should clear the air. Besides, I keep calling you cutie, so you know where I stand."

Clay blushed and looked away. This was actually happening right now?

"Aw, you do!" She said scooting closer to him. "That's so cute. It's ok. It can be our little secret if you want. I know how you manly types like to be stoic with your feelings."

Clay's heart was beating hard against his rib cage and he felt more embarrassed than he had in a long while. He looked around to see if Casey or anyone else was coming to offer a rescue rope, but for some reason everyone decided not to be out and about at that moment.

"So…" Lola said.

"…so…?" Clay said.

"No, I'm done talking. You start a topic."

Clay rolled his eyes. "Ok…so what are you going to do about your group?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you want to go back to them?"

"I don't know," Lola shrugged. "Honestly, since Johnny left, they've been so boring. Maybe I should start my own group. 'The Lola's.' Hm…nah, too much work. Maybe Jimmy's little group could use some of my grace and charm to brighten them up."

That's one way to explain it, Clay thought to himself.

"So are you trying to join one of the cliques?"

"…I don't know."

"Pete keeps telling people they should stop being so…'cliquey.' He says it just breeds hostility and…not niceness or something. Whatever. That seems like a doomed idea. And he's the new Head Boy, so he's part of the worse clique of them all: teacher's pets. I don't think you should join a clique though."

"Why?"

"Because I want to be your friend and I wouldn't want to think less of you if you're with an uncool group."

"…thank you?"

"My pleasure," she said scooting even closer until she was more or less pressed right next to him. Clay tried real hard not to react like he did last time as she reached up and stroked his cheek. "It's important to know who you can trust in this place. People can be so mean and gossipy."

Clay stood up hurriedly and turned to face her.

"What?" Lola said surprised. "I don't bite…much."

"No, it's just…" he said flustered. "…sorry, I'm just nervous."

"Aw," Lola said standing up and approaching him. "That's just natural. Lots of guys behave that way around me. But you can trust me. I wouldn't—"

Suddenly, something from behind Clay caught Lola's attention and her eyes widened. Clay turned around…

…only to get a fist right to the face! He stumbled backwards, with Lola stepping out of the way, before catching himself against the top portion of the fountain. His lip throbbed and he could taste blood as he turned to see none other than Norton standing there with his fists clenched. A couple other Greasers stood next to him looking intimidating.

"Clay! Look out," Lola said too late.

"Thanks for that," Clay replied wiping a little blood from his lip.

"Think you're so funny huh?" Norton said to Clay through grit teeth. "Sticking your dick where it don't belong?"

"Phrasing," Lola quipped.

"Nobody asked you!" Norton said sharply before returning his attention to Clay. "Not so tough now without your baseball, are you? None of your 'roided out friends to back you up either. Just you and me, dork."

Clay stood back up to his feet and looked to Norton. "You were going to beat that guy up with bats," he said.

"And?" Norton said threateningly. "That bonehead keeps harassing the new girls and we had enough of his shit. Are you going to defend a jerk like that?"

Clay tried to leave, but the other Greasers surrounded him. Just like they did to Casey yesterday. "It wasn't fair," he then said.

"Yeah. Well I'm about to be a lot more unfair," Norton said pointing a finger at Clay. "If I see you step foot around the garage again, you're going to get the piss beat out of you."

"…I have shop class Thursdays," Clay noted.

"…if I see you around the garage outside of class," Norton clarified. "Then I'm going to beat the piss out of you."

"Clay's not scared of you," Lola then said. "You're just a petty little jerk scooping up power. If Johnny was here—"

Norton then grabbed her collar and glared at her, causing her to yelp in shock. "Johnny got sent to an asylum and then transferred because of you, you little bitch. Always twisting him around your finger while you slept around with everyone on campus. You drove the kid mad. If it wasn't for you, everyone would be a lot happier."

"Oh yeah. Like you were so broken up when Johnny left. You cried for what? Ten…fifteen seconds before you took over the throne? You weren't his friend. You could never understand him like I –"

Norton clearly had enough of her harping. He shoved her backwards, causing her to fall butt first into a small garbage can behind her.

"Ow!" Lola said struggling to free herself.

"Hey!" Clay shouted wanting to react, but feeling the restraint of Crabblesnitch's threat lingering over his head. Unfortunately, he already said too much.

"Oh ho," Norton teased cricking his neck. "Did I hurt your ho? Bet she'd love to see you fight for her honor. Too bad all you're going to do is eat my fist!"

Norton threw a punch at Clay, who stepped backwards out of reach. Hey look, Clay got himself in another fight and it was only his second day! He just couldn't stop himself.

"Come on, punk," Norton taunted his fists raised at the ready. "Put up your dukes. Knock my block off."

Clay sidestepped Norton's next wild swing as well, trying to maneuver his way until he could find an opening to escape. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see Lola eventually pull herself out of the trash can and watch from the sidelines. Remembering what he was doing, Clay ducked just in time to dodge another punch.

"Stop being a pussy and fight me!" Norton said attempting to kick upward.

Clay pushed the foot away with his hands and sidestepped once again, his back once again facing the fountain. Norton seemed equally annoyed as he was angry now.

"Kick his ass, Clay!" Lola shouted.

This had to end. Given Clay's luck, a prefect or some other adult was likely to show up soon. If Clay could juke away from Norton quickly enough, he might be able to run away with Lola following him.

"Alright, I've had it!" Norton yelled and charged right at Clay.

That was his chance! Clay attempted to dodge him once again…except his foot didn't move quickly enough to avoid tripping his attacker. Norton flopped right into the fountain, causing a huge splash. Clay would have bolted, but the force of Norton sprinting against his foot really hurt.

"Shit!" One of the Greasers shouted.

"Alright, Clay!" Lola cheered.

Norton flailed a bit in the fountain before getting back to his feet, now angry and soaked in dirty water. Before Clay could move, Norton grabbed him by the collar and cocked back a fist to give him another punch square in the jaw. Clay closed his eyes ready to expect the worse…

…until he heard a firm but quiet tap come from Norton and the Greaser's hand released him.

"AH!" Norton yelped covering his forehead.

Clay opened his eyes to see the other two Greasers get struck by a couple rock shot at their heads or neck as well. Someone was shooting at them from nearby.

He turned to see who saved him last minute. Sure enough, his savior was once again Jimmy Hopkins holding a slingshot. This time though, he also had Pete and Janet in tow.

"I really hate resorting to violence," Jimmy said sarcastically hooking the slingshot to his belt. "But in this case, I'll make an exception."

Norton was about to lash out at Jimmy before seeing him and stopping in his tracks. Clay used that hesitation to run over to Jimmy's group, as did Lola.

"Ah no," Norton said annoyed. "No no no! You don't get to interfere with this, Hopkins. That little worm's going to take his lumps."

"He's no worm!" Lola taunted. "Clay's going to beat you so—"

"Lola, shut up," Jimmy said annoyed not even looking at her. "The grown-ups are talking."

Lola huffed and crossed her arms. "Some gentlemen you are."

"That little bastard threw a baseball at my earlier," Norton complained. "Totally unprovoked. All I was doing was returning the favor."

"Unprovoked, huh?" Jimmy said crossing his arms and looking to Clay. "Well, I've only known this kid for so long, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do something like that."

"Shows what you know, Hopkins," Norton said pointing to Clay. "That guy's trouble. A no good little cretin."

"A cretin who stopped you from beating up an unarmed guy five to one," Janet sniped.

"You got no proof!"

"I do!" Someone then said.

Everyone turned to see Casey and his group arrive from the basketball courts looking ready to brawl. Great, Clay thought to himself. Where were they five minutes ago?

"Is that the friends you were waiting for?" Lola blabbed.

"I knew it," Norton said pointing to Clay. "That shitheel's working for Casey."

"'That shitheel' was waiting for us to do a movie night, buddy," Casey interrupted.

That little statement surprised both Norton and Clay.

"What?" Norton asked.

"Clay was at our party and we were going to hang out tonight. It was a thank you for not letting you dick wads beat me up in an alley."

"And he pushed me in a trash can!" Lola added, whom most everyone ignored.

Norton looked back to Clay and glared.

"I don't believe you," Norton said moving towards Casey and the group, his goons in tow. "I ought to knock that empty head off your—"

"Ok, that's enough," Pete then interjected as he moved between Norton and Casey with Jimmy in tow. "This was a misunderstanding and we'll leave it at that. So how about we all forget about this and leave before someone gets in trouble."

"You can't threaten me with your power, wimp," Norton said.

"Oh yes he can," Jimmy said. It still weirded Clay out how Jimmy could be so intimidating for being a head shorter than almost everyone but Pete. "You threaten the Head Boy, Crabblesnitch's going to hear about it. So how about you go back to your dorm and dry off? The only thing worse than a Greaseball is a wet Greaseball."

"Yeah, what he said," Damon interjected from the group.

"Shut it, jock strap!" One of Norton's goons said sizing Damon up and waiting for Norton's order.

Norton glared at all of them for a few seconds, clearly wanting to fight but his rational side was preventing him. He then waved his hand to settle his goons down before looking down to Jimmy.

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Norton said. "Is this how you promote 'fairness?'"

"Stopping jerks from beating up other jerks?" Jimmy quipped. "Yeah, that sounds pretty fair to me."

"Whatever," Norton said as he walked away towards the school, his goons in tow. Clay and the others began moving out of the way, though Norton got one quick shove at Clay as he walked by.

Clay could finally feel his heartbeat slow down as he looked over to see Jimmy and Pete both look to him disapprovingly, while Casey and the jocks just seemed confused by what transpired. Once the Greasers were out of earshot, Jimmy decided to speak up.

"Ok, explain now," he said to both Clay and the jocks.

"We were just minding our business," Lola started saying. "Sitting by—"

"I didn't ask you, Lola."

"I'm explaining what happened, you oaf! Norton sucker punched Clay while we were talking. That's the truth."

Jimmy looked over to Clay, who nodded.

"Yeah and that probably had nothing to do with the fact that Casey was going to use Clay as a lookout while they vandalized the garage," Janet added.

"Really?" Lola said looking to Clay. "…well why didn't you tell me that? I would have helped."

"What have I said about getting petty revenge, Casey?" Jimmy then said to the jocks.

"Those Greasers had it coming," Bo then said. "They fight one of us, they fight us all."

"Yeah and you perving on the new girls had nothing to do with that, right?"

"Perving, nothing!" Casey said. "All I did is tell Sandy she was smoking hot and she could do better than Norton."

"She really could," Lola added.

"Alright, alright," Jimmy interrupted. "Let's just move on and forget tonight happened. Ok?"

"Fine," Damon said to his friends. "Come on, I want to get some more punch."

Most of the jocks started to leave, but then Casey turned to Clay. "We're even for this, right?"

Jimmy and the others looked to Clay, who hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Awesome," Casey said with a thumbs up. "You need anything, you're cool with us, buddy."

The jocks made their way past the basketball courts and entered the gym before Jimmy and Pete walked back to meet with Clay, Janet and Lola.

"So…what happened to that no fighting thing you were worried about?" Clay said.

"He didn't throw a single punch," Lola said. "Norton tripped on Clay's foot when he fell in the fountain."

"After Clay threw a baseball at him this morning," Janet said.

"I was trying to aim behind Norton," Clay mumbled.

"Why the hell were you at that alley anyway?" Jimmy asked.

"He went to church this morning," Pete added.

Clay nodded.

"Huh," Lola said. "I didn't think church people could be so violent. Kind of sexy, if you ask me."

"Nobody did, Lola," Jimmy said.

"You know, if you want people to get along so bad, maybe you should be nicer to little old me."

"Ok… 'please' stop talking."

Lola huffed.

"Anyway, you're lucky Janet found us or this would have turned out real bad."

Janet nodded smugly and looked to Clay. "I told you I was going to handle this."

"Yeah, but I can't keep butting in every time you guys stir up trouble," Jimmy said.

"And I can't keep turning a blind eye if you guys get in trouble," Pete added.

"Well then what do you want us to do?" Janet said. "Yeah, Clay did a dumb thing attacking Norton, but I've seen people doing stuff like Norton was doing before. Should we just turn a blind eye?"

"Yeah, Jimmy," Lola said snarkily. "It's not like that's the first time Norton has been attacking people."

"What?" Jimmy said.

"Oh sure. How do you think Norton got the Greasers to stick together after Johnny left? They've made it a point to single out and quiet people one by one."

"…and why did you wait until now to tell us?"

"It's awfully hard to tell you things when you always say, 'Shut up, Lola,'" she said badly imitating Jimmy's voice. "I'm not stupid, you know. You're so busy 'keeping the peace' that you don't see how hard the cliques are working to do things without you noticing."

Everyone was silent as she looked around, clearly enjoying the attention.

"It's true," she said with a satisfied shrug. "Even those nerds have been conspiring against you guys."

"…Melvin did say I shouldn't trust you guys last night," Clay said.

Jimmy and Pete looked to each other.

"That little bastard," Jimmy said. "And after I helped him win tickets to get that motor scooter."

"Sounds like there's not as much of a power vacuum as you thought," Janet said before looking to Clay. "He gave you the talk too, I imagine?"

Clay nodded.

"Maybe there is," Pete said. "But they've just been waiting for school to start to bolster their numbers."

"They have increased the size of the student body since last year," Jimmy said. "Damn…ok, this merits some further investigation."

"'Further investigation?'" Janet said amused.

"Yeah, yeah. Like in the movies. I know. The point is we got to make sure other people aren't getting bullied or harassed, especially the new kids."

"And that the new kids don't attack people too," Janet said looking at Clay.

"Clay's tough, but he's no bully," Lola defended.

"Why does everyone assume I'm tough?" Clay said.

"All I'm saying is," Jimmy said. "If Russel can stop bully kids, the rest of the kid can too."

"Alright," Janet said crossing her arms. "What's your plan then?"

"My plan…" Jimmy started to say before looking to Pete. "Petey?"

"Oh brother," Pete replied. "Ok, maybe we should have an emergency meeting tomorrow after school? Lola…I can't believe I'm saying this, but can you come?"

"I don't know," Lola teased as she looked to Clay. "But if Clay's going to be there, then I'll consider it."

"He's coming," Jimmy said.

"I am?" Clay replied.

"Sure. You're a part of this now."

"And us new kids need to watch each other's back," Janet said giving a playful jab at his arm in the same spot Damon did, causing him to wince slightly.

"Fine," Jimmy said. "We'll meet at the Clubhouse."

"Can't," Pete said. "They're taking inventory tomorrow."

"Crap. Then the Lighthouse."

"Where's that?" Clay asked.

"Old Bullworth Vale," Jimmy answered. "Not too far from here. Let's shoot for 6 P.M."

"Fine," Janet said motioning for Lola to follow. "Come on. Let's give the boys some privacy."

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on," Lola said as she walked over to Clay…and planted a big kiss squarely on the lips. Clay was both surprised, pleased and a little in pain over this since Norton punching him left a fat lip there. Lola broke the kiss and winked. "That's for tripping Norton into the fountain for me. Sweet dreams, cutie."

Janet rolled her eyes as Lola followed her back to the girl's dorm and they started to chit chat. Clay stood there stunned for a moment, soaking in what just happened. Sure, Lola was a bit of a narcissistic attention whore, but she seemed to like him apparently. Unless she kissed everyone like that.

Still a win in his books though.

"I did warn you about her," Jimmy said putting a hand on Clay's shoulder.

"…to be fair," Clay said feeling a slight confidence boost from that. "She snuck up on me tonight."

"Ah, then got her sights laser locked on you. Even worse."

"Well, you're not rich, so she'll probably leave you alone after a while," Pete said before thinking over what he said. "You're not rich right?"

Clay shook his head.

"Good," Jimmy added. "But you're clearly a trouble magnet, so we got to do something about that."

"Like what?" Clay asked.

"Well you can't, and clearly won't, fight on campus. But you can, and probably will have to, fight off campus. So you might be safe if you can keep your fighting away from any prefects or tattletales. I got to ask though…can you fight?"

Clay shook his head.

"Didn't think so…tell you what. Set your clock for 7:00 A.M. tomorrow. We're going to start a new class."

"Really?" Clay asked.

"Mmhmm. Mr. Hopkin's Ass Kicking 101 is now in session."

"Just don't get overzealous," Pete said.

Right as Pete said that, they heard people start leaving from both the Harrington House and the gym,

"Looks like the fun's over," Jimmy said starting to walk towards the dorms. "Come on. I'm bushed."

Clay rolled his eyes as Pete and he followed. Oh, Jimmy's tired? Clay had already been chased and attacked today. And he got two girls to kiss him. So he actually accomplished quite a bit in one day.

Then something crossed his mind while they walked.

"Hey, Jimmy?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Did you tell Pinky about the fight I got into back home?"

"…huh?"

"I talked to her on the bus today and she brought it up. I hadn't told anyone else about that and, um, I know you were talking to Beatrice about me too."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Ok, first of all: you talk to a lot of people when I'm not around. Second, I haven't seen Pinky for a few weeks. And third, you didn't really tell me about that fight."

"Did she say something specific?" Pete asked.

"Just that she knew it's what got me sent here and that the other guys got it worse," Clay replied. "I hadn't told anyone else that."

"She could just be bluffing," Pete said. "Maybe a lucky guess."

"Or…we might want to be careful when talking about that stuff," Jimmy said. "Sounds like we might have some flies on the wall."

"Oh boy," Pete said.

"What? You know how fast gossip goes around here," Jimmy said before pausing and looking to Clay. "So…did the other guys get it worse?"

"…yeah," Clay answered reluctantly. "Yeah they did."

That response made the rest of the walk awfully quiet. He knew they had some theories on what he meant by that, but he didn't feel like responding. He was tired and hungry, so that was all he cared about resolving at the moment. He could only imagine how things would go tomorrow once classes started…


	5. First School Daze

_"Gooooooooood morning, Bullworth! It's seven o'clock and it's time for your morning news. Just to get it out of the way, the sun is shining, traffic is light and the kids at Bullworth Academy are starting classes today. Don't celebrate too hard parents! In other news, a local Wigwam Burger was shut down for health violations after animal droppings were found in the chicken nugget batter…"_

Clay silenced his radio alarm and slid out of bed. Crust covered his eyes and his lip still felt numb from the night before, though not quite as swollen. He did wish he didn't have to wake up so early, but Jimmy insisted that they do this 'butt kicking' class. And he said to wait until after they were done to shower, so Clay would have to walk over all greasy and groggy.

He slinked over to the closet and slipped on his workout clothing he brought from home. He'd have to purchase some school appropriate clothes later today, but these would do for now as long as no one saw him. And by no one, he meant the prefects. Which wasn't easy to do because Jimmy had decided on a place behind an abandoned bus in the parking lot for their training, which meant he would have to cross the campus to get there.

Once he was ready, Clay snuck out of his room, being extra cautious to ensure Trent or Norton weren't looking for him, and exited the dorm. No sooner did he leave though than he saw a prefect standing around the walkway between the dorms. Thinking quickly, he bolted over to a nearby wall and looked out to keep an eye out for when the guy left. It felt kind of exhilarating sneaking around like that. Like something out of a _Radical Rogue_ spy movie. Except he couldn't stun or kill the prefect to sneak past him. That wouldn't look very good on his permanent record…

The prefect yawned and walked over towards the girls' dorm. An opening! Clay bolted from the wall and was about to turn left to cut through the campus…when a thought occurred. He saw the front gate open and remembered that the sidewalk outside led to the parking lot. And he didn't remember seeing prefects roaming the sidewalk. Well, except that guy watching that kid mow the lawn. Though it was early enough in the morning…

Reacting quickly, Clay raced to the gate and checked around. As he hoped, no prefects were anywhere to be seen.

"Yes," he said silently as he walked towards the parking lot and rounded the corner of the building.

"So you do have some brains on you," a voice then said.

Clay jumped before seeing Jimmy leaning against the wall, having been previously out of sight. Jimmy was wearing some school appropriate workout clothes and a sweatband.

"Figured you didn't have any school clothing yet," Jimmy continued. "Coast's all clear now though. Let's go."

Clay followed Jimmy as they went to the broken down bus Jimmy mentioned. Jimmy slid the door open, leading them through some old looking seats and a lot of dust before exiting out the back to an area usually blocked by the main wall. It was then he noticed that they were getting closer to the garage.

"No one's there," Jimmy said slightly teasing. "It's seven in the morning. Besides, even the Greasers don't use this place."

Jimmy led them past a large wooden fence to a small area Clay definitely had never been to before. A ton of junk surrounded them, forming a sort of barrier around the small patch of dirt in the center with tiny bits of grass and weeds in concentrated spots. There was also a shack in the back with a moldy looking mattress and more garbage on the ground.

"The heck is this place?" Clay asked.

"A hobo used to live here last year," Jimmy said. "Violently deranged, but not a bad guy once you got to know him. He taught me some useful fighting skills."

"…is he still here?"

"Nope. No one's seen him since I helped him collect transistors for his alien communication device."

Clay looked at him vacantly.

"Long story," Jimmy continued. "Anyway, no one's using this place so we're going to make it our training ground. Take a seat, pupil."

Clay looked around for a chair or something to sit on, but found nothing even remotely useable. He settled for an old plastic bucket that he flipped over and sat on. The place stunk slightly, but he figured he would get used to it.

"Now," Jimmy said putting on a pretentious teacher's voice. "Being the well-educated master of 'ass-kickery' that I am, I have many useful skills I can impart upon you, young ward. But you're not ready for the big stuff yet. So we need to test your skills before we can determine your course work. Any questions?"

Clay raised his hand.

"No, I'm kidding," Jimmy said dropping the voice. "We don't have time for questions."

Clay awkwardly lowered his hand. This was going to be an interesting morning.

"First thing we need to do: stand up," Jimmy instructed.

Clay quickly stood to his feet, accidentally knocking over the bucket.

"Let's do…oh, twenty jumping jacks to warm up. Go!"

Clay did so rather efficiently.

"Ok…twenty push-ups."

Clay proceeded to do so.

"Hm…twenty…I don't know. Twenty jumping jacks again."

Clay raised an eyebrow as he got back up to his feet and did the jumping jacks. His legs muscles were starting to burn now.

"Congratulations. You completed the 'Do whatever the teacher says' part of our lesson. Just remember to not always follow that with real teachers."

"What, like Mr. Galloway?" Clay asked.

"Ah, I see you've heard about our resident souse. Nah, he's doing a lot better with Mr. Hattrick gone and Ms. Philips helping him. But if he does seem a little irritable, it's nothing personal to you. He just lashes out at everyone."

Clay nodded. He wasn't exactly excited to have a drunk for a teacher.

"Now that we're all warmed up," Jimmy said walking up to Clay until he was standing in front of him. "It's time for your first objective: hit me."

Clay raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry."

"Try to hit me. I won't know how good you are unless you show me."

"Uh…" Clay hesitated. "I mean if I just hit—"

Jimmy then slapped him across the cheek.

"Ow!" Clay yelped. "What the heck?"

"Act like a bitch, get slapped like a bitch,' Jimmy replied smugly. "Rule number one in this dojo. Now stop worrying about hitting me and try to hit me."

Clay groaned, but complied. He attempted to punch Jimmy in the face, only for Jimmy to slap his hand away.

"Too slow," Jimmy said. "Try again."

Clay frowned as he tried with the other hand. This time, Jimmy hit against the inside of his elbow and caused his arm to go numb for a moment.

"Bad posture," Jimmy said as he squared his stance and lifted up his fists at the ready. "And keep your fists up. You're leaving yourself open for an attack. Hit me."

Clay shook his arms and imitated Jimmy's stance. He was starting to get ticked now. He threw a punch at Jimmy, who lifted his arms up and blocked.

"Come on! You punch like a nerd. Hit me."

Clay grit his teeth and threw a couple punches this time, which Jimmy also blocked.

"My stepdad can hit harder than you and he's 98% fat and hair," Jimmy taunted.

Clay threw even more punches and leaned into them, which Jimmy continued to block as he backed up.

"Getting angry?" Jimmy taunted. "Good! Get angrier. Grab those brass balls of your and hit me, half-ear!"

Clay felt a surge of rage and attempted to kick Jimmy in the nuts. Unfortunately, Jimmy grabbed Clay's foot and flung it upwards, causing Clay to flip onto his back. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of his lungs and his spine throbbed. It was like that for a few seconds before Jimmy walked up and crossed his arms.

"Remember that," Jimmy said. "Anyone you're fighting will use your weaknesses against you. If you get angry over little things like that, you're going to lose. But if you do get angry, use it wisely."

Jimmy reached a hand out and helped Clay to his feet.

"Besides," Jimmy continued. "We're not covering nut kicking until four lessons from now. You got to work your way down to dirty fighting like that. We're just going to focus on fists today."

Clay sighed and rubbed his back before getting back to his squared stance like Jimmy's.

"Just one question though," Jimmy then said.

"I thought we didn't have time for questions," Clay mocked.

"The teacher does. You said you're not rich, but clearly you family must have some money to send you out here. What's the source?"

Apparently people scrutinized every word you spoke in this place. He wasn't wrong though and that's what made it tough. It seemed Clay wasn't quite the best liar…or Jimmy was good at sniffing out a bad liar.

"My grandpa owns my uncle's construction company and my mom does law," Clay answered. "So we got a little money."

"Not rich, but comfortable, Jimmy said squaring his stance. "Cool. Because if you were rich, I'd have to bully you on principle. Now shut up and hit me."

And so the training continued. Clay wasn't quite sure of Jimmy's credentials as a teacher, but perhaps this would pay off for him. He can only dodge and run away from people for so long, or this would be an incredibly long school year. Plus, it was an excuse to keep him in shape if gym was only one class a week…

* * *

Clay slipped on his shoulder bag and tied his shoes before exiting his room. He still felt a little sore from the training, but it did make the shower he had after the training feel that much better. One thing was made clear that morning though: he was a sloppy fighter. He didn't even know how he managed to handle that fight with those guys back home…and he really didn't want to know.

Leaving the dorms, Clay noticed the other students making their way to the main building. Pete mentioned that they had increased the number of students enrolled on campus and it certainly felt like that now that they had everyone out and about. The increased enrollment surprised Clay based on what everyone said about the chaos last year, but he figured that was just an attempt to make themselves look better. Plus, all those new enrollments meant more people paying pricey tuition fees to funnel into the school. Or at least Clay hoped that was where the money was going.

The stroll the building was largely free of any harassment aside from a few people looking at him funny. A bunch of the nerds were gathered together nearby the stairs discussing their plans for the first week of school. A bunch of younger students were strolling about acting as if they weren't in the worst school ever, even to the point they smiled and waved at the prefects. And out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the bullies intimidate a newer looking student. He assumed this was a pretty normal morning at Bullworth.

As Clay approached the stairs, the nerds spotted him.

"Ah, musical knight," the all too familiar voice of Melvin then said. "Salutations and well wishes."

Clay sighed and stopped to face the group. "Hey Melvin."

"That's Clay?" That fat nerd with the broken zipper said.

"Yeah," Clay replied. "You still busy with that study group?"

The nerd seemed confused for a moment before realizing the context. "Oh…oh yeah. Dude, I'm really sorry. I was a total dick that day."

Clay nodded.

"We are all prone to our weaknesses and shortcomings," Melvin said. "But fortitude and friendship ultimately win—"

"Speak English, Melvin," the black nerd in the group said. "Clearly this Clay is not the most eloquent of people."

"No, but I'm not stupid either," Clay said. "So don't treat me like it."

"Oh, we would not dare presume to," Melvin said. "I apologize for my compatriots. The first week of school gets everyone on guard. Some of the cliques like to use us as hazing targets to…'vent their frustrations.'"

Clay looked to the other nerds and then back to Melvin, who continued.

"So, are you coming to the drama club today?" Melvin asked. "I hear they'll be announcing the school musical and it should be most exhilarating. I, of course, am holding out for Hamster Harem."

"You know they won't do that," a chubbier student replied between bites of chocolate.

"A man can dream, Fatty," Melvin replied.

"That's not very nice," Clay criticized Melvin.

"Oh no no," Melvin said. "I did not mean insult. That is my friend's name."

Fatty licked some of the chocolate off his fingers and held out his still sticky hands to shake Clay's. "Nice to meet you."

Clay looked with mild disgust at the hand before reaching out and shaking his wrist. "Yeah, you too…"

"Indeed. And this here is Algernon," Melvin said pointing to the broken zipper kid before then pointing to the black kid. "And that there is Cornelius."

"The one and only," Cornelius replied.

"Ah, but we have tarried too long here," Melvin replied. "Let us depart for our classes. Will you be following, musical knight?"

"I got to stop by my locker first," Clay said.

"Excellent. Then we shall see you in class, good sir," Melvin said as the nerds left.

Clay rolled his eyes and followed up the stairs. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to Melvin's theatrics. And he still wasn't crazy about the guy bad mouthing his friends the other day.

He entered the school building and made his way up the stairs, watching the zoo that was the first day of school unfolding around him. A couple girls were outside their locker gossiping about the boys they thought were hot, which he did not hear any reactions aimed his way as he passed them. One student slid down the railing on the stairs before planting his feet on the floor, inviting the ire of a prefect who yelled at him. A few Greasers gave him the cold shoulder walking down the other direction. All around him, people went about their business waiting for the first bell to ring.

Clay pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and looked around for his locker. Once he found it, he took a moment to memorize the combination.

"Let's see…" he mumbled to himself twisting the lock. "Ten…seventeen….six."

The lock released and Clay opened the door. It was a pretty decent sized locker all things considered. Big enough to fit a person. Which he really hoped he wouldn't have to test at any point…

…but someone else clearly wanted him to as he felt himself get shoved inside and the door close behind him. Some guys laughed walking away.

"Hey!" Clay shouted squirming inside the locker. "Hey! Somebody help!"

None of the students reacted to his pleas and the nearest prefect was too far to hear him over the noise everyone else was making. Clay checked his watch again. The first bell was going to ring shortly. Maybe he could shout again once people started clearing out…though that meant he would probably be truant to his first class. He really didn't have the luxury to do that!

Thankfully, a familiar face soon walked into view through the slits on his locker.

"Janet!" He shouted.

Janet jumped looking at the lockers.

"Over here," he said tapping on his locker.

Her surprise quickly changed to amusement as she walked over to the door.

"Seriously?" She said with a chuckle. "First day of classes and you're in trouble?"

"I wasn't trying, ok?" He replied. "Someone shoved me in. Can you get me out?"

"You sure you want to give your locker combination to a girl you just met?"

Clay hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Ok…now say please."

"…please," Clay said annoyed.

"Pretty please?"

"…pretty please."

"With a cherry on top."

"Open the door before I scream again."

"Alright, alright," she said approaching the lock. "Killjoy. What's the combination?"

"Ten, seventeen, six."

A quick twist of the lock and Clay was freed. He stumbled out of the locker and took a big gasp of fresh air.

"Oh, it's not that bad in there, drama queen," Janet said.

"Want to find out?" He teased.

"Yeah, no," she said stepping away from the locker as Clay put some items away. "So, what glamorous place did you leave for this rat hole?"

"Utah," Clay replied before closing the locker door.

"Really? Why the hell would your family ship you halfway across the country to go here?"

"I'm asking myself that a lot more these days."

"Well, I'm from Boston."

"You don't sound like it."

"Yeah, because everyone in Boston should sound exactly alike, right? Judgey."

The first bell rang and students began to hurry to their first classes.

"Are you still going to the Lighthouse?" Janet continued.

"Yeah," Clay replied.

"Cool. How about we meet outside the school around six and we can walk over together?"

"Uh, sure."

"Alright," she said walking off to the opposite side of the building. "Try not to get in any more fights before then."

Clay shifted his shoulder bag and walked off the other direction. He really hoped he didn't get in any fights either. Though it seemed less likely that people would try to punch him in the middle of a classroom…he hoped.

A short walk down the hall and Clay reached his first class. The interior of the room was pretty average for an English class. It was lightly decorated with various school memorabilia and class related learning decorations, including a poster with a list of complex words and other stuff. A large wooden desk was in the front of the room for the teacher and everyone else was sitting in smaller desks in neat rows. To Clay's surprise, the room was almost completely at capacity. He even saw Jimmy sitting in the back of the room, who waved at Clay as he entered.

The only desk open was the one next to Beatrice, like she promised him the other day. She noticed him enter and motioned to the desk to remind him she saved that seat. He smiled and moved over to sit next to her…

…only to feel someone's foot attempt to trip him. He stumbled slightly but caught himself between two desks. The students sitting there looked up in surprise.

"Sorry," Clay said looking back and seeing one of the bullies laughing as he pulled his foot back under the desk, while a couple other students also chuckled. Looks like he was still a target today. He ignored it as he walked over and sat next to Beatrice.

"God, Tom's a dick," Beatrice said. "How was your evening?"

"It was…eventful," Clay replied. "How was yours?"

"Oh it was quiet. Did some light reading on abdominoperineal resection and watched some TV. Nothing special."

"Yeah…sounds relaxing…" Clay said feeling maybe Cornelius was right about him not being very eloquent. He'd have to look up that term she said.

Shortly before the second bell rang, the door opened and the teacher Mr. Galloway strolled in. He looked to be in his mid-30's and clearly had the look of someone who drank a lot. What with the intense furrowed brow and wrinkles on his face. His general appearance was enough to catch people's attention too, with his reddish brown hair, neatly trimmed beard and red and gray vest. However, at least to Clay's assumptions, he didn't look drunk or hung over that day. In fact, he seemed pretty sober and alert as he set his bag down next to the table.

"Sorry for not being here sooner," Mr. Galloway said pulling out a stack of papers. "The printer was not being cooperative. Good morning, everyone.

"Good morning, Mr. Galloway," Beatrice replied back, along with a couple mumbled 'good mornings' from the rest of the class.

"Ah, I can always rely on you, Ms. Trudeau," Mr. Galloway said approaching the chalk board and writing out his name. "As she said, my name is Mr. Galloway."

Clay noticed Beatrice pull out a notebook from under her desk and start writing something down. Was she taking notes on his introduction? In Clay's experience, all they would do was go through that preliminary stuff about no bullying and stuff that none of the students here would follow.

"I see a lot of new faces today," the teacher continued. "We'll make sure to go through introductions quickly, but first…"

Galloway handed the stack of papers to a student nearby to pass around.

"We're going to do a pop quiz. Now this is not for grades. Consider it a sort of…preview for what we have in store this year. You'll have ten minutes to complete it."

As the papers were passed around, Galloway sat back on his desk. "I also want to tell you guys how great I'm feeling today. I haven't had a drop of liquor in two weeks and I feel light as a feather. It makes every little minute of my life feel so precious. Remember that when you leave the safety of this school to experience the cold realities of the world. With all the crime and violence that happens out there, start applying salubrious habits now. Ah, there's an idea. Can anyone tell me what salubrious means?"

Clay thought for a moment on that one. That word did sound familiar actually, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Beatrice and a couple of the nerds already had their hands in the air though.

"Can anyone other than my A+ students tell me the meaning of that word?" Galloway clarified.

Beatrice lowered her hand slightly disappointed. That's when Clay recalled something. He was at his cousins' house back in Utah and some of the kids were watching a Japanese cartoon dubbed into English. It was honestly kind of annoying, but the terrible acting on the dub did make the words stand out. That's when he remembered that a character in the anime used the word salubrious in connection with a hospital…

Clay raised his hand.

"Yes," Galloway said pointing at him.

"Um," Clay said lowering his hand. "Good for your health and well-being?"

"Very good," Mr. Galloway said. "While we're at it, would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"

Clay turned around to face the class, a little intimidated by the number of people watching him at that moment.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly waving. "My name is-"

"Nerd!" A student quipped in the back row, prompting some chuckles.

"Alright, settle down," Galloway said. "It's his turn to talk."

Clay sighed and continued. "Clay…Clay McKinley."

"Are you a local too, Mr. McKinley?"

"No," Clay replied looking back to Mr. Galloway. "I'm from Utah."

"Is that so? A rare sight around here. That's another idea. Who can tell me two of the states that border Utah?"

As one of the other classmates answered the question, Clay looked to see Beatrice giving him a thumbs up impressed by his vocabulary skills. He smiled and nodded. He was glad he impressed her right now. Because she'd likely be disappointed seeing how he does on this first quiz…

* * *

The 11:30 A.M. bell rang and students swarmed the cafeteria for lunch. Clay stood in line behind Pete and in front of Janet as the students went down the line one by one. It was a decent looking cafeteria, with bolted down wooden tables and seats lined neatly in the wood themed design of the room. It was fairly crowded in the cafeteria though, so quite a few students took their lunches and left to find a spot to eat.

"God, I'm starving," Janet said behind Clay.

"What? You weren't intellectually nourished by your last class?" Clay replied looking at her.

"Not even a little. That music teacher's a weirdo. What's on the menu?"

Clay squinted at a sign up ahead to see what the special of the day was. He almost did a double take when he read it though.

"Curiously Crusty Clam Chowder?" He said to Pete.

"Try saying that five time," Pete joked. "If I were you, I'd avoid anything Edna's cooking."

"Edna?" Janet asked.

"Who's hungry?" A loud, deep throated and cackling woman's voice boomed from the kitchen.

Clay felt his gag reflex kick in as a large, grimy lady in a cafeteria outfit walked out with a vat of the clam chowder. She held a cigarette between her teeth, her clothes were splotched with all kinds of unknown substances and the clam chowder definitely looked curiously crusty. Edna set the vat down and snorted loudly, chewing some of the bits she collected from it.

"Healthy food makes for a healthy body," she said lifting a ladle from the vat. "And tough food builds character. So crusty clams is the best of both worlds!" She cackled loudly before sneezing at the ladle, only to put it back into the vat and stir the chowder. "Come and get your grub! And don't worry about running out of chowder. This stuff will keep and keep and keep."

Both Clay and Janet looked to each other in disgust before looking at Pete for an explanation, who simply shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Why the hell isn't someone saying something?" Janet said.

"Because she's an institution at the school. Plus, I think she has some kids who go here."

"Oh god…" Janet winced probably thinking the same thing Clay was about what that woman's children looked like.

"Yeah," Pete replied. "Crabblesnitch won't hear any of the complaints, but at least he allowed pre-packaged food to be served."

Clay did notice a lot of people had pre-packaged meals and things that clearly Edna had not touched. Still, some people were eating the chowder and a few people were getting bowls from her after seeing what they saw.

"What was that you said about being starving?" Clay said to Janet.

"Yeah, maybe that was an exaggeration," Janet replied grimly as the line moved forward...

* * *

Clay followed Janet to their next class as lunch wrapped up. Here he thought he wouldn't see her until later tonight and yet they've been hanging around each other quite a bit today. It wasn't an unpleasant coincidence though. Better someone who at least tolerated him than Trent.

As they walked, he heard a few students giggle behind him. He didn't take much notice about it, until it happened several more times. Then he heard someone whisper something he wasn't crazy about.

"Crabblebitch…"A student giggled.

Clay turned around and saw those students giggling were definitely looking at him.

"Ok, what's so funny?" Clay asked.

"Uh…." Janet said pulling something off his back. "Probably this."

Clay turned to see her hold up a piece of paper with the word 'Crabblebitch' written in sloppy sharpie marker. How the heck did he not notice that on him?

Some people began to laugh even louder, with one voice among them being very distinct. Clay looked across the way to see Trent, Tom and a couple of the bullies laugh pointing at him. Apparently one of them stealthily pasted that on his back.

"God, they're immature," Janet said throwing the paper in a trash can. "Just ignore them."

The two of them continued walking as Clay attempted to focus on something else. "So..." he said. "What did you and Lola talk about after you left?"

"Girl stuff," she replied. "And a bit about the 'politics' among the ladies here."

"Oh?"

"Mmhmm," she said noticing Mandy in the distance. "And she's the one to watch out for."

Mandy stood by her locker applying make-up while looking into a mirror she hung on the door. She still wore that cheerleader outfit from the previous day, which seemed like it was just her thing to do.

"She did seem a little…forceful yesterday," Clay said. "She grilled me because I recognized her…uh…" He then realized he had promised to keep that a secret.

"Recognized her what?"

"Re-recognized her from a…a photo I saw on a school brochure," he quickly attempted to cover up. "Y-you know. She didn't want the attention."

"Uh huh…" Janet said. "And would that photo have been one of her in a shower?"

"N…no."

"I know about that one," Janet replied. "Lola and Angie gossiped about that the other day."

Well, that wasn't the thing Clay was supposed to keep secret, but it would do.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised," Janet said. "A girl like that would do anything for attention. And I'm sure it was good practice for her future career path."

"Well, she's…she's not that bad," Clay added.

"Cheerleaders are always that bad. They're stuck up bitches who ride off their looks to get people to do what they want."

Clay didn't add anything to that. Usually if someone felt that strongly about something, they had a very specific reason for it. Maybe Janet was a cheerleader before. She looked like she could be.

The two of them entered the next classroom and sat at a table near the front. The chemistry class looked exactly like what he would have expected from a science class. Lots of chalk boards, lab equipment, plants, animal skeletons, science posters and other expected nerdy items. There would be no mistaking what course you were taking that day.

The teacher was already in the class and dabbling in some chemical mixing before they even got started. He was a much older teacher than Mr. Galloway, already balding and wearing glasses that obscured his wrinkles. He mumbled to himself before hearing the bell ring.

"Ah, right. Class," the teacher said. "Hello students. My name is Dr. Watts and we shall explore the mysteries of…um…" He looked down at the syllabus he printed out. "Ah right. Advanced chemistry. Yes, that's where I am."

Clay and Janet looked to each other a little worried, but no one else in the class seemed to be bothered by the teacher's behavior.

"Chemistry is often said to be the art of…uh, transformation," Dr. Watts continued. "The act of change where raw material is altered into stronger elements. Much like the molding of your young minds to stronger…um, minds. Now, the first thing we'll do…"

While Dr. Watts talked, Janet leaned over and whispered to Clay.

"Just to know if you're stalking me all day," she said. "Are you going to drama club after class?"

"You do drama too?" Clay whispered back.

"So that's a yes."

"You could be stalking me, you know. I planned to go there when I first arrived."

"Sure you did—"

"Excuse me," Dr. Watts then said at them, causing Clay and Janet to sit back up immediately. "Would you like to share your conversation with the class?"

"Oh…" Janet stumbled. "We were, uh…"

"Um, just wondering this thing is," Clay said pointing to a large circular bottle on their desk. "Some kind of mixing bottle?"

"No, that's a boiling flask," Dr. Watts replied. "You don't mix things in a boiling flask. At least, not well. If you'll pay attention, I will cover that shortly."

"Yes sir," Clay replied for the two of them. The teacher continued as Clay noticed Janet pay extra attention to what was being said. He figured he should too. They'd likely talk some more when they go to the club…

* * *

"So you're a drama nerd?" Janet said as the left chemistry for the drama club room.

"Well, not 'nerd,'" Clay said sheepishly.

"Uh huh," Janet replied. "How many plays have you done in the past?"

"…none."

"None?" Janet said surprised. "You're a drama virgin then?"

"I…I guess."

"Cool. Decided to pop your drama cherry at a new school. How very awkward new student of you."

"…thanks?"

"You're welcome," she said as they approached the other side of the building where the class was, passing by students either leaving for the day or going to one of the other clubs in the building. "Do you sing?"

"Yeah…you know, like never a big thing, but I sing."

"Ok, you're definitely going to sing something tonight after our meeting."

"I don't know…"

"If you want to do drama, you got to be comfortable performing on the spot in front of strangers."

"Are we still strangers?"

"Nope, so you have even less of an excuse."

Darn it, he thought to himself. Now he had to think of something he knew well enough to sing. And probably not _Erikson_ , since everyone knew how to sing that stuff easily.

They eventually made their way towards the room…only for Clay to spot someone very familiar entering it.

"Oh shoot…" he muttered to himself watching Trent confidently enter the room.

"Huh?" Janet said until she saw Trent as the door close behind him. "Oh…is that the guy who beat you up?"

"Why does everyone know that?" Clay said despondently.

"Hm…well, what are we waiting for?" Janet said grabbing his hand to bring him to the room, only for Clay to plant his feet.

"M-maybe I shouldn't," he said. "You know, just in case, uh…"

"You're seriously going to let that jerk stop you from popping your drama cherry?"

"Well I…I've been a virgin so long. Maybe I can wait another year or something. I could wait for college."

"Clay," Janet said turning to face him. "Don't let that guy win. If you back out now, all you'll do is give him more power over you. And I'll be there too, so I've got your back."

Clay hesitated for a second looking back and forth between the room and the stairs out the building.

"Fine," she said letting go of his hand. "Don't go. See if I care." She said walking towards to room. "Sure sounds like fun though. A once in a lifetime chance to be a part of a big musical sounds pretty tempting to me. But hey, if you don't want to do that, then you do you."

Clay frowned. Great, she was using mom tricks to try and persuade him to follow her….and it was working. With a sigh, he nervously followed alongside her as they walked to the door.

"See," she said. "That wasn't so hard."

Clay groaned as she opened the door and they entered. The room was sparsely decorated, with only a variety of chairs and a closet full of props and sets distinguishing it from any other room. A small group of students were gathered together near the front of the class talking and getting ready for the first meeting. Clay did see a few familiar faces, like Melvin, Cornelius, Christy and, oddly enough, Bo among other people.

And that's when Trent noticed Clay.

"The hell you doing here, Crabblebitch?" He said standing up and mean mugging him, attracting the attention of some of the students.

"He's here for the club," Janet replied.

"I wasn't talking to you," Trent said to her before bringing his attention back to Clay. "This is my turf and you're trespassing."

"Actually," Melvin interjected. "The club's open for anyone to-"

"Can people stop speaking for this guy and let him not act like a bitch himself?" Trent interrupted as the door swung open an adult entered the room.

"Oooo," a man with an incredibly flamboyant tone of voice said. "First day of the club and I already hear dramatic potential. Alright, sit down, my lovelies. We got a lot of big things to do today."

Trent huffed and sat back in his seat. Clay followed Janet to a couple seats next to Bo and Christy.

"What the hell's that guy's problem with you?" Janet whispered as they sat down.

Clay shrugged as he slumped in his chair. It's not like that guy couldn't pick on or harass any other new kid on the campus, but for some reason he was the primary target. He tried to focus on something else as he saw the teacher set down a bag and a rolled up poster. Clay did a quick scan of the teacher's wardrobe. Bright pink button up shirt and rainbow colored ascot? A fancy vest covering them? A beret? Purple loafers? High pitched voice? Overweight? Not to stereotype the man more than he had done so himself, but Clay was pretty confident that this guy was gay.

"Oh it has been far too long since I saw everyone," the man said giddily. "My husband and I kept saying how much we couldn't wait for the club to start again while on our 'va-cay' to Amsterdam."

Score one for the home team.

"Oh and I see new faces too!" The teacher continued. "How rude of me. I'm Mr. Felton, your drama coach. And yes, acting is as much a sport as football to you jock types in the audience."

Clay could see Bo roll his eyes before Christy gave him a light nudge in the ribs. He could tell whose idea it was to come here between them.

"This year is going to be simply the best and I will accept no substitutes," Mr. Felton continued. "Acting is about expressing the true nature of the human condition. Reaching deep into our deepest fears and insecurities before twisting them into entertainment for other people's amusement. The most selfless of acts a human being can do!"

That sounded like arty bull crap to Clay, but he let the man continue. Discreetly, he could see Trent paying extra attention to everything Mr. Felton was saying. So...this was something that really meant a lot to him.

"But the best part? This year, Dr. Crabblesnitch allocated additional funds to the drama and music department to produce a musical! Something about diversifying the school's image after the little fohpah last year. We can't let unmitigated violence and sociopathic influences be this school's legacy."

Mr. Felton reached over and picked up the rolled up poster. "And the best BEST part? Yours truly got to pick the musical. Now, I know we've had a number of requests from the students, including one for that dreck Hamster Harem."

Clay could almost feel the weight of defeat crushing Melvin as he heard Mr. Felton say that.

"But my husband managed to pull some strings with his cousin's neighbor's brother's producer friend and worked a deal to give us the rights to perform a major Tommy winning musical finishing its current run."

This clearly attracted a number of students' attention, including Clay. Something recent? That was pretty uncommon for a school like that.

"You're excitement is palpable," Mr. Felton said with flair. "Anyone want to guess what show we're doing?"

" _Movie: The Musical Cash Grab_?" One student asked.

" _Jesus, Mary and Joseph_?" Melvin asked.

" _Assholes in America_?" Christy then asked.

" _Jukebox Bitches_?" Janet asked.

" _In the Whites_?" Clay asked.

" _Hashtag the Musical_?" Cornelius asked.

" _Erikson_?" Bo asked.

" _Gay House?"_ A different student asked.

" _Thoroughly Average Millennials?"_ Algernon asked.

" _My Fair Ladyboy_?" Trent asked.

"All fantastic guesses," Mr. Felton then said pulling the rubber band off of the poster and positioning it in his hands for a dramatic reveal. "But no. This one is super exciting. It's a play full of laughs, satire, adventure and even a hint of the spiritual if that floats your adorable little boats."

Spiritual, Clay wondered to himself. Wait…did that mean…?

"Boys and girls," Mr. Felton said releasing the poster. "Our production this year will be… _Missionary._ "

Clay's eyes widened seeing that iconic poster in the teacher's hand showing two Mormon missionaries humorously positioned like they were doing the missionary sex act. He was more than familiar with that play. The creators had stirred some controversy about the satirical portrayal of Mormons, mostly from non-Mormons oddly enough, by showing them as bumbling buffoons dealing with the challenges of spreading Christianity in a conveniently unnamed country to allow for open casting of the non-Mormon characters. Even weirder, the musical was criticized by those people because it made a very clear goal to explain what Mormons are not, while exaggerating a lot of those correct details for comedic purposes. For some reason, people got really bent out of shape hearing a song called ' _We haven't practiced polygamy for over a century_ , _darn it_!' Though they would then show one of the main character debating on marrying all three of the potential love interests to placate those critics. Funny enough, his church was totally cool with all of that. They even bought ads in the playbills that read ' _Feeling guilty for laughing at us? It's ok. You can repent_.'

Still, this was a huge get for the school. _Missionary_ was the highest grossing musical on the theater circuit right now right after _Erikson._ So doing a production for such a huge play would certainly draw a lot of people to the school. Now he could see why Crabblesnitch gave them more money.

He looked to see the other reactions from the students. A few were disappointed, but most everyone else seemed to be content with the decision. The guy who was the most interested in this, unfortunately, was Trent. He was fixated on the poster like it was a golden ticket or something.

"Oh you can almost smell the money rolling in," Mr. Felton said. "We will start auditions next week. No prior acting or singing experience is needed, but it would be greatly appreciated. And even though it is an open casting call, you can request a role you would like to audition for. Yours truly will decide who fits each part the best."

So that might be a reason why Trent is so excited. From what Clay had read, the lead role of Elder Whitey was a coveted role in the theater circuit. That character had some of the most memorable gags, speeches and solo performances of the entire play. It required a lot from the performer though. They had to sing, act, dance and be funny. Clay was sure he couldn't meet that. Still, maybe he could audition for a bit part. It sounded like it wouldn't be hard to try.

"Now that I have you all aroused," Mr. Felton said setting the poster down. "It's time to get this drama show on the road. Everyone stand up. We're going to do improv exercises."

Clay stood up from his seat and looked to see Trent with stars in his eyes. Well, at least Trent being distracted might make the first meeting more bearable…


	6. Setting the Board

The sun was setting in the distance as Clay and Janet left the campus to meet everyone at the Lighthouse. That first drama club meeting didn't end up being so bad. It was a lot of soft balling with basic improv games, deep throat vocal exercises and laying down the rules of conduct for the club. Clay managed to avoid Trent for the majority of that meeting, though he did get some prime mean mugs in at the right moments. Clay knew the glow of the play reveal would fade over time and Trent would be back to picking on him as usual. He might duck out of future meetings if he could help it…

…provided Janet didn't coerce him that is. She seemed pretty adamant in attending the club and she did have a point about letting Trent win if he stopped going. Still, after that first day, he figured Trent was just warming up. And now he was 'invading Trent's turf,' so he might be extra hostile from now on. Or Clay could be overthinking it as usual—

"Were you listening?" Janet then said.

Clay did a double take, failing to cover up the fact that he wasn't..

"I said have you seen _Missionary_ before?"

"Oh," Clay replied. "Yeah, they toured Utah a year ago."

"I've never seen it myself. I always heard it was pretty good. What do you think?"

"You know…" Clay said waffling on how to articulate his thoughts on it. "Great music. Really funny. Not completely accurate."

"Well duh," Janet said. "It's a musical. And it's not like most people know anything about Mormons. No offense."

"You just assume I'm Mormon?"

"You're from Utah. It's highly likely. Plus, you look like a Mormon."

"And what does a Mormon look like?" Clay asked.

"I don't know…" Janet said. "Just…you know, clean cut, geeky…"

"White?"

"I didn't say that."

"You thought it though."

Janet shrugged. "I mean…have you seen black people in your church?"

"The bishop here is black."

"Oh…ok."

"Tsk tsk," Clay teased waving a finger. "So judgmental."

"Shut up," Janet teased giving him a tap on the same shoulder everyone seemed to jab at for some reason. That shoulder was going to be numb before the year was over.

"Yoo hoo!" A familiar flirty voice said from behind them.

Clay and Janet turned to see Lola power walking past a few students and an older couple before walking next to them.

"Oh god…" Janet mumbled.

"And here I was worried I'd have to walk to the Lighthouse all by myself," Lola said as she pinched one of Clay's cheeks. "Had a good day, cutie?"

"Uh, yeah…" Clay said slightly muffled by the pinch. "It was—"

"My day was just soooo boring," Lola interrupted releasing him. "There I was sitting in math class and that dork Constantinos was all, 'Lola, can I borrow your calculator?' I thought, 'Why do you think I'd bring a calculator to a math class?' Then I said…"

Clay and Janet covertly rolled their eyes at each other as they let Lola ramble on for a little while longer about her class, someone who left a creepy but flattering love letter in her locker and something about her old boyfriend. By the time they reached Old Bullworth Vale though, Janet seemed to have had enough.

"…and then I told Pinky, 'I don't care if your daddy's rich.'" Lola continued. "'I would never demean myself with such—'"

"Hey Lola," Janet interrupted. "Great story and all, but, um, how about we talk about something else? Or maybe just play the quiet game."

"Aw, but I was getting to the best part," Lola said before looking at Clay. "Fine, what do you want to talk about, cutie?"

"Oh, uh," Clay said not expecting the buck to get passed to him. "Um, have you been to this Lighthouse before?"

"Sure," Lola answered. "Gord used to take me there for some private time before Jimmy took over."

"Took over?" Janet asked.

"Yep. He pummeled those prep jerks during a boxing tournament and won exclusive access to the place. Well, technically someone else owns it, but Jimmy has special privilege to use it whenever he wants."

"Wow," Janet said impressed. "Where can I win a prize like that?"

Up ahead, a Preppie stood on the sidewalk looking around awkwardly. Clay figured it would be best to ignore him, but the guy saw them approach and walked up to them.

"Hey Lola!" The guy said.

"Hmph," Lola said stopping and crossing her arms. "You think you can 'Hey Lola' me after telling your rich friends how I gave you a hand job under the bleachers."

"But you—"

"Over the pants doesn't count! I have more dignity than that."

Clay, Janet and Prep were thoroughly embarrassed by that until the Prep turned to shake Clay's hand. "Hey, I'm Bryce."

Clay shook his hand, trying not to think about the image Bryce and Lola planted in his brain. "Clay."

"Janet," Janet said as Bryce shook her hand.

"Clay…" Bryce said thinking. "Oh right. The Mormon."

"Don't insult him like that," Lola said.

"No, Lola," Clay said. "I'm a Mormon."

"Oh…" She said surprised.

"Anyone have an issue with that here?" Janet then said.

"Nope," Bryce replied. "Everyone else at Harrington House has been spreading stories about you, but I have a cousin-sister who's Mormon so I know it's a bunch of shit."

Clay wasn't quite sure what to think of that statement, especially the 'cousin-sister' part, but at least he was cool with that.

"So you've never 'revved the engine' before?" Lola asked. "I can't imagine how tense that would make your—"

"That's enough of that," Janet interrupted to Clay's relief. "We're going to be late."

"Oh, are you going to the Lighthouse too?" Bryce asked.

Janet looked to him surprised. "You got invited?"

"Sure. I hang out with Jimmy and the guys all the time."

"…cool."

The group proceeded to the beach leading to the Lighthouse as they saw a couple other people entering the building.

"Looks like a proper party going on," Janet said.

"Nah," Bryce replied. "Jimmy wouldn't do something this last minute unless it was really important."

"Are the Preps really spreading rumors about me?" Clay asked Bryce.

"Yep," Bryce said. "Mostly the usual stuff, but I heard some people say some weirdly specific things."

"Like what?" Clay asked concerned about what that entailed.

"Something about you working at your uncle's construction company because you love ogling sweaty, hairy dudes."

"What?"

"It's ok if you're gay, but—"

"No no," Clay clarified shaking his head. "I'm not gay. How did they….how did they know I did construction?"

"Beats me," Bryce shrugged. "Lucky guess."

That was starting to worry Clay more and more. Pinky knowing stuff about him was one thing, but more people knowing incredibly specific details? Jimmy might be right about someone spying on him and it sounded like it was coming from the Preppies.

"Who said that?" Clay asked.

"I don't know," Bryce answered. "I heard it from a few people. It's fine though. My brother has to do construction work after our trust fund ran dry. Nothing like good honest labor to remind a person what it truly means to have versus the have not's."

Clay still wasn't satisfied with the answer, but it sounded like he wouldn't get much else out of Bryce. That would require some extra digging.

The group ascended the walkway leading to the Lighthouse. As they walked, Clay felt a hand squeeze around his bicep. To no surprise, it was Lola's.

"Hey," Clay said.

"Sorry," Lola said. "I'm just impressed. You got that from construction?"

Clay shrugged. "Yeah…some of it…"

"Mmmm…I do love a man who's good with his hands."

Clay heard Janet groan in annoyance as they approached the front door. Bryce knocked and waited until Jimmy opened it up.

"Sup Bryce?" Jimmy said as the two embraced.

"Everything," Bryce joked as he walked past Jimmy. The others followed close by.

"Clay, Janet…" Jimmy said nodding at the two before seeing Lola and sighing. "Lola…"

"Don't get any funny ideas, lover boy," Lola said as she made her way to the arrangement of tables in the center of the room.

Clay took a moment to soak in the environment. The place was not only incredibly roomy, but chock full of stuff everywhere. The back of the building had a fully equipped bar with barstools, the liquor conveniently replaced with appropriate beverages. There was a large fireplace on one wall, a bearskin rug on the floor, a soda machine, a couple beds, a poker table, a rack full of cricket bats and a few decorations that Jimmy clearly set up since he took over. Clay was surprised Jimmy didn't hold parties here all the time.

"She's a beauty, huh?" Jimmy said putting a hand on Clay's shoulder.

"You won this from a boxing tournament?" Clay said impressed.

"See what happens when you learn how to fight well?" Jimmy replied.

Another knock on the door was head.

"Hold that thought," Jimmy said opening the door and smiling. "Well well well. I was just talking about beautiful things."

Clay turned around to see a tall red haired student enter the building and give Jimmy a huge kiss. She was notably buffer looking than the other girls Jimmy had met on campus and not in a mannish way. It was like someone who was a genuine tomboy who liked being active and liked to brawl. He had known a few girls like that back home, but few also matched how attractive this girl was. Clay knew better than to get involved with that though, since that kiss made it clear she was dating Jimmy.

"Flatterer," the girl said breaking the kiss. She followed Jimmy inside and stopped as she saw Clay. "This the guy causing you grief?"

"Sure is, babe," Jimmy said motioning Jimmy to shake her hand. "Clay, this is Zoe."

"Pleasure," Clay said shaking her hand.

"Be gentle on my guy," Zoe teased. "You know how fragile he can be."

"As if," Jimmy said. "Well, looks like the gang is all here."

Clay turned back around to see the people sitting around the tables. Lola, Janet and Bryce were sitting at one corner chatting about something. He also saw Beatrice there reading one of her textbooks, with another skinny nerd wearing three watches sitting next to her that Clay hadn't met yet. There was a shorter looking jock near them wearing a number 11 letterman jacket and leaning back in his chair. Next to him was another girl with curly pigtails and big glasses talking to a Greaser with slick black hair, the two of them laughing at some joke he made. And then there was Pete siting by himself writing something in a notepad. It looked like there was someone from every clique in the school. Well, every clique except.

"Little buddy!" A loud, Neanderthal like voice bellowed from a backroom, alerting several people's attention.

"Yeah, Russell?" Jimmy asked.

"Russell not find toilet paper," the booming voice said.

"Third shelf on your left, big guy," Jimmy replied. There was a slight pause before Jimmy clarified. "Your other left."

"Oh…" Russell then said. "Thanks, friend."

Clay looked to Jimmy surprised as everyone in the group resumed what they were doing. "Is that…?"

"The very same Russell you've heard about," Jimmy replied. "Just got back from his vacation. Yet another member of our little 'United Order of Misfits.' Pete came up with the idea after reading something about 'contact theory.' The more people from other groups that hang out with each other, the more likely they are to play nice."

He turned and pointed to some of the people Clay was not familiar with. "The nerd sitting next to Beatrice is Bucky. He says he like what the group represents, but most everyone knows he's only here because he's head over heels for Beatrice."

"Everyone except Beatrice," Zoe said.

"She prefers dating people outside of her social group," Jimmy said pointing to the jock. "That there's Kirby. The runt of the football team. Got picked on enough by the jocks that he doesn't like hanging out with them anymore."

"But he still does to keep appearances," Zoe added.

"And over there we have Angie and Ricky," Jimmy said pointing to the girl and the Greaser. "The Greasers have been distancing themselves from him because he wouldn't stop whining about a girl who dumped him years ago. Angie's been a rebound girl for him."

"She won't commit though," Zoe remarked.

"They're young. They'll come around soon enough."

"Yeah, like you settled down easily."

"I found you, didn't I?"

"After how many girls?"

"In my defense, I didn't know you before that."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoe smirked. "You're lucky you're so handsome or I might have to go back to dating older guys."

Clay started to feel uncomfortable until he saw who must be that Russell guy emerge from the bathroom. The guy was…huge. No, that was an understatement. He was a freaking gorilla! Huge muscles, a brow that gave him a perpetual glare and he was even taller than Clay. And that guy was a high schooler?

"Russell ready to talk," Russell said taking a seat next to Pete.

"Let's get rolling," Jimmy said moving to the table with Zoe and Clay following behind. Clay found a seat between Janet and Lola that he sat down in. Lola was filing her nails while Janet stared amazed at the behemoth sitting at the table across from them.

"Jesus…" She said in a hushed whisper. "That guy's huge."

"I noticed," Clay replied. He really hoped he didn't have to fight that guy anytime soon. Looking across the table, he saw Beatrice smile and wave at him. He waved back, though he also saw Bucky attempting to hide his jealousy next to her.

Jimmy and Zoe took their seats next to Pete, prompting Jimmy to get everyone's attention. "Alright, quiet down everyone." Everyone slowly stopped talking, though a few people continued to do some mundane activities while Jimmy continued. "Now, I'm sure not everyone's aware why we called this little get together."

"I heard Norton's pretty pissed at you and the new kid," Ricky replied.

"Yeah, that's part of it. I've been hearing some stuff about people being unhappy with how I've been doing things around campus. Look, I'll admit, I'm not the smartest or nicest guy, but if there's something big enough that people are 'conspiring against me,' I'd like to address that before it gets worse."

Clay sat back in his seat as he listened. So…Jimmy wants them to criticize him to his face?

"Just to open things up," Jimmy continued. "If anyone has something to say about me or anyone else here, just let it out."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, until a usual suspect opened their mouth.

"Well," Lola said sitting up and putting away her nail file. "If I'm going to keep coming to these meetings, I'd like it if you stopped calling me names to my face."

"Name one time I did that in the last week," Jimmy challenged.

"Well…" Lola said trying to think of something to back up her point. "…well, you keep telling me to shut up all the time. That's just as bad."

"And do you think there might be a reason for that?"

"It's not my fault I have a gift for gab," she said looking to the group. "And no one else says that to me."

"They're being polite," Zoe added.

"Oh really?" Lola huffed. "Who here has thought about telling me to shut up before?"

There was a slight hesitation before Kirby, Ricky, Angie, Bucky and Janet all raised their hands.

"Ricky," Lola whined. "Really?"

"Just being honest," Ricky said. "You drove all of us crazy with your chitter-chatter."

"Big talk coming from a guy who bitched about his girlfriend breaking up with him all year. What was her name again? Tully? Miranda? Made-up-because-I'm-lonely?"

"Back to the main point," Jimmy said annoyed. "I really would like to know if people have an issue with me. If anyone's felt annoyed by what I do, just tell me. I can handle it."

"Well," Kirby said. "You like the take the lead all the time picking activities."

"Ok, fair enough. I can let more people pick activities. What else?"

"You sometimes get a little control freakish when planning things," Bucky added.

"Kind of related to the first point, but ok," Jimmy added. "What else?"

"You like to act first before thinking," Beatrice added.

"Guilty," Jimmy added.

"You bad mouth my friends a lot," Bryce said.

"I dish out what I take."

"You ruined the big football game last year," Angie added.

"Stick to the present."

"Russell abstaining," Russell said.

"Not helping, big guy."

"You're stealing power from the cliques," Janet said. That got everyone's attention. "What? It's obvious, right? This little group simply existing is a threat to the cliques. I say that's why they're conspiring against you."

"What are we doing wrong?" Kirby asked.

"It's not what you're doing wrong," Janet clarified. "It's just what you're doing. We can talk about how flawed Jimmy is all night—"

"Wasn't planning to," Jimmy added.

"—but the bigger issue is that the cliques are feeling threatened. If people stop segregating themselves into group, they become irrelevant. Even I can see that and I just got here. You see it too, right Clay?"

Clay wasn't ready to have the buck passed to him, but everyone was looking at him now so it was too late to back out.

"I mean…" Clay stuttered. "Um…yeah. I guess so."

"Thanks for the help," Janet replied sarcastically. "The point is that the more people hang out like this, the more the cliques are going to feel marginalized. So they'll ramp up their actions to make themselves look better or tougher."

"Norton was pissed you weren't hanging out with the gang," Lola said to Ricky.

"Norton, Peanut and Vance were the ones who stopped inviting me to hang out," Ricky replied.

"Probably because you stopped showing up."

"There's a guy named Peanut?" Janet asked.

"There's a kid named Fatty," Clay added. "So why not?"

"Why's Norton starting to target people, Lola?" Jimmy asked trying to stay on point.

"Starting to?" Lola asked. "Norton was doing that for Johnny even when you were around. With Johnny out of the way, he uses it as a form of 'retribution for hire.'"

"It's true," Ricky said to Jimmy. "Somebody causes trouble? Talk to Norton and he'll deal with it for good."

"For good?" Jimmy asked.

"Sure. You wanting people to get along is nice, but most people want swift and lasting results. They call you a hypocrite because used to do that when you became head honcho of the school."

"And that wasn't right of me, I know."

"It wasn't right," Angie added. "But it left a blueprint for how to get things done."

Clay did his best to keep up with all the connections and events that happened over the last year.

"Melvin and the guys feel the same way," Beatrice added. "Ever since they helped you sabotage the big game, they've been more confident getting their way through underhanded means."

"They're planning on dominating the study groups," Bucky followed with his nasally voice. "Especially once the midterms come up. Anyone who wants to offer their own services outside of their 'jurisdiction,' they'll find a way to sabotage it."

"And that's bad because?" Kirby asked.

"Because they're going to charge you through the nose for their service. If you want quality work, they have all the quality people."

"Damon's already planning on dealing with the nerds for that reason," Kirby said looking to Jimmy. "Especially since you sabotaged the big game."

"Why does that keep coming up?" Jimmy said annoyed.

"Because that threatened the school. The games are a big source of income, so the grown-ups want to make sure it doesn't happen again. And they're plotting to get getting payback when you least expect it."

"My cohorts are still pissed you wrecked the observatory too," Bucky added.

"And Derby still has it out for you after making a fool out of him," Bryce said. "The Preps already hate everyone else in the school, but you still having power is a threat to them. So my guess is they'll try to hire new kids to help sabotage people."

"Ok," Jimmy said as he looked to Pete, who was writing down on that notepad the entire time. "And why would Trent and the bullies have it out for me?"

"Maybe because you turned their iron fisted leader into a pacifist?" Pete said.

"Russell no hurt weak kids," Russell said. "Me gentle giant."

"Exactly the problem. The bullies never had anyone else as a leader, so they were lost without him. Plus, if you keep getting people to ignore them, they're going to double down to get attention."

A short silence lingered among the group.

"So everyone hates everyone at this school?" Clay said.

"That's how Bullworth's always been," Zoe said. "Even with creeps like Hattrick and Burton gone, the adults don't care. It's all about keeping up the illusion of peace and they're going to try even harder to turn a blind eye after all that Gary shit."

"For the new people in the room," Janet said raising a hand. "What did happen with Gary?"

"Ask them," Angie said as everyone focused their attention on Jimmy and Pete. Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"How many times do I-?" He started to say.

"Former friend of ours," Pete answered. "He manipulated Jimmy and a lot of the clique leaders fight each other so he could 'take control of the school.'"

"And he thought he could get away with that?"

"He was psychotic," Jimmy said annoyed. "The point is, I kicked his ass, he got expelled and things went back to normal."

"Normal for Bullworth," Kirby said.

Jimmy was about to say something when they heard a faint sound. It was almost like…someone was sleeping. Sure enough, everyone noticed that Lola had nodded off during their conversation. Clay discreetly nudged her arm.

"Huh, wha?" Lola said snapping awake.

"I'm sorry, are we boring you?" Jimmy said condescendingly.

"Yes," Lola replied. "All I hear is a bunch of 'yap yap' and no action. If Johnny was here-"

"He's not," Beatrice said.

"At least he got things done. He wouldn't just sit around and—"

"I think what Lola is saying…" Janet said putting a hand to Lola's mouth.

"Hey!" Lola said moving the hand away.

"…is that now that we know what's up, what are we going to do about it?"

"I didn't think this was a 'we' thing," Jimmy said. "If people have beef with me, I should deal with it."

"Well, we're involved in it now," Ricky said. "And I'm not hanging out with those lame-o's at the garage anymore."

"Yeah and I'm not interested in playing nice with the team right now," Kirby said.

"Might as well nip this in the bud," Beatrice said.

"Just to make sure we're clear on this," Janet started to ask. "We're conspiring to stop other people from conspiring against us?"

"You got a better idea?" Angie said.

"No. I just wanted to make sure we all knew where we stood."

"Ok then," Jimmy said. "We know whose upset. Now we got to find out how to pull the rug from under them. Any ideas where to start?"

Clay had been listening patiently for most of the conversation. Mostly because he didn't have as much to contribute, but because he did have one thing he wanted to do first and foremost. He was all for helping to stop the cliques, but this was a bit more of a selfish goal.

"Maybe…" He started, getting everyone's attention. "…maybe we can get back at Trent first."

"Still got a chip on your shoulder?" Ricky said.

"I didn't see you try and stop him when he bullied me," Clay said.

"Ok, let's not start that," Jimmy said. "What did you have in mind?"

Clay leaned forward on the table. "Trent really wants the lead role in the school musical."

"So?" Kirby said.

"So…maybe I can…I don't know…get the part instead."

A pause lingered for a moment before Janet backed him up.

"It's a really coveted part," she said. "It would be a huge blow to his ego if the kid he bullied beat him to the punch."

"Hm…" Pete said. "It's a start. But Trent's going to start harassing you more if you audition for the lead."

"How the hell would he know?" Janet asked.

"Mr. Felton puts the sign-up sheet on the front door," Bucky said. "Unless you only want a bit part, you have to specify if you want to audition for a certain role to be seriously considered."

"And Trent won't like competition," Kirby added. "Knowing him, he probably expects to audition unchallenged."

"Clay's not afraid of a punk like him," Lola said. "He beat up Norton, so he can take on a guy like Trent."

"I didn't really-" Clay mumbled.

"You think you're up to it?" Zoe asked Clay.

Clay pondered it for a moment. If he tries out for the lead role, he's going to openly invite Trent to be more hostile towards him. Which meant the rest of the bullies were likely to follow. He had hoped to have a longer grace period after today. After twiddling his thumbs a bit, he nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah…" He said. "Yeah, I think I can handle that."

Zoe seemed unconvinced, but most everyone else seemed to be cool with it.

"You got an audition piece in mind?" Angie asked.

"…no," Clay answered.

"You better decide quickly," Bryce said. "The sooner you practice, the better your audition will be."

"Why would anyone care about him doing a musical though?" Ricky said. "Aren't musicals for queers?"

"Some of them," Janet replied. "But everybody cares about going to see _Missionary_."

"Whoa," Bucky said. "We're doing _Missionary?_ "

"I love that show," Bryce said.

"That one funny," Russell then said.

"I mean it's no _Erikson,"_ Kirby added.

"You'll take me to see it, right?" Angie asked Ricky.

"See," Janet said with a smug look to Ricky.

"Alright, alright," Ricky said before directing back to Clay. "How come it couldn't be something like sports?"

"I don't really play sports," Clay said.

"Well then it's settled," Jimmy said. "We'll help the Mormon get cast as a Mormon. Who says people don't hire for diversity in show business? Alright, now about the other guys..."

Clay leaned back in his seat realizing what he just set in motion. On the one hand, he was going to do something he never tried before and audition for a school play. It might not have seemed like much to anyone else, but that was a huge step for him. And that he was the one to propose the idea surprised even him. It just felt right for some reason though. Like it was something he had to do.

That being said, Trent was certainly going to make the process hell for him. He could only guess what the bullies would do once he signed his name on the sheet. Hopefully everyone here would have his back when that happened.

He exhaled softly as he tuned in for the rest of the meeting and saw everyone else around him. Three days had passed since he moved here and he already had a pool of friends, a potential enemy and a chance to play the lead in a play. It was going to be a busy year…

* * *

The meeting proceeded for a little while longer as Jimmy coordinated plans with the group for how to handle the other threats. Admittedly, Clay kind of half listened to most of it, as he was still buzzing off the anxiety and anticipation for his little mission. Most of what they planned involved snooping around and figuring out how to preemptively strike back at the cliques. Clay was sure those plans would change as things moved along.

"And that's everything," Jimmy then said as Clay saw people getting ready to leave. "And based on the feedback, anyone have a suggestion for what we should do Wednesday night?"

Bryce raised his hand.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know about you guys," Bryce said. "But I could use a good swim before it starts getting colder. How about a beach party?"

"That could be fun," Kirby said. "Plus, it'll be harder to go once school picks up."

"I'm game," Jimmy said. "Any objections?"

No one said anything.

"Then it's settled," he continued. "Beach party on Wednesday."

"Also," Pete said. "Just a reminder that the homecoming dance is coming up in a few weeks. If you need help getting nice clothes for that, we can help."

Clay raised his eyes. A dance? He went to a homecoming dance back in Utah last year, but that was really low key. He could only imagine what a boarding school homecoming dance was like. Hopefully his suit would be all cleaned up by that time.

"Cool," Jimmy said. "Alright, go home. We got another day of classes to slog through tomorrow."

Everyone got up and started the slow process of chit chatting with each other before awkwardly making their way to the door.

"So..." Janet said looking to Clay. "You think you can handle Trent?"

"...I don't know," Clay replied quietly.

"Then why did you say that?"

"I just..." He said trying to place his feelings. "I just got caught up in the moment."

"No," she said. "You want to get back at Trent. He hurt you so you want to hurt him back."

Clay looked to the ground nervously.

"…at least you're not fighting him. It's...it's just that these kind of things aren't easy. You got to be ready for the backlash."

"...I know."

"Mmhmm," she said putting a hand on his shoulder. "That's why you need a partner to watch your back after when we audition."

"...we?" He asked looking at her.

"Yeah!" She said. "There's a lead female part and you're damn right I'm auditioning for that. We can rehearse together."

"Uh...yeah, cool," he said.

"Still," she said. "We need a place to practice."

"You can practice here," Jimmy said approaching them.

"Really?"

"Sure. People stop by here a lot for one thing or another. Just tell Pete what time and he can get you a spare key."

"Awesome," Janet said as she bee-lined to Pete. Jimmy stuck around to talk to Clay.

"You do realize what you're getting into, right?" He asked Clay.

"Yeah yeah," Clay said a little annoyed at being asked about that twice.

"Just saying. I might not be there to help, so you got to be on your guard. Think you can handle it?"

Clay looked up at him. "...yeah."

"Ok. Knock 'em dead," Jimmy said before walking over to talk to Russell.

Did people have that little confidence in him? To be fair, he had little confidence in himself, so it must have been noticeable. He sighed and turned to leave.

"Hey," Bryce then said approaching Clay. "Look, sorry if those rumors bummed you out."

"No," Clay replied. "It's fine. Probably better to know."

"Yeah but still," Bryce said. "Those rich jerks won't make things easy for your reputation if they keep talking smack."

Rich jerks? Did he not consider himself rich? Clay figured he wouldn't probe into that if that wasn't a comfortable subject.

"Tell you what," Bryce said. "I'll keep an ear out if I hear about an opportunity for payback. You do the same. Especially if my name comes up. That cool?"

Clay was a little surprised by the offer, but he felt like that might work out for everyone. Those guys were acting like complete butt heads to him after all.

"Yeah, sure," Clay nodded.

"Awesome," Bryce said patting him on the back as he walked to the door. "See you later."

Clay crossed his arms and smirked. Well, at least one Prep was nice on this campus. He was curious though what Bryce meant about his name coming up. Clay already figured that Bryce wasn't on good terms with the Preps but he had to wonder what else he had done.

He turned to see if Janet had finished talking with Pete, only to bump into a wall of muscles and clothing. It didn't take long to guess who that was.

"Who you?" Russell asked looking at Clay.

"Oh uh," Clay said a little intimidated by this behemoth. "I'm…Clay."

"Clay?" Russell repeated. "Russell like clay. Clay fun to play with."

"Yeah…just don't play with me like that," Clay answered.

"Me Russell," Russell said holding out a hand to shake.

Clay shook his hand, wincing as Russell squeezed too tight. Again, how was this guy a teenager? They released the shake, with Clay rubbing that hand to get the feeling back in it.

"Russell no like hurt people," Russell said. "But Russell fight for peace if peace no there."

"That's…good to hear," Clay said still not used to this guy's tenuous grasp of English.

"You be Russell's friend?"

"…sure."

"Good! Russell like being friend."

"And we like having you around, big guy," Pete said giving Russell a pat on the back as Janet also approached Clay.

"We're practicing at 6 PM tomorrow," Janet said.

"Oh…ok," Clay replied.

"You can buy the soundtrack from the music store down the street," Pete said. "Just don't leave it here if you don't want someone taking it."

"Sounds good," Janet replied.

"Excuse me!" They then heard Lola say.

They turned to see Lola and Zoe arguing with each other. Oh boy, Clay thought to himself.

"Yeah, you heard me," Zoe said. "'Ho bag!'"

"Guys…" Jimmy said trying to break up the argument.

"Well, I never!" Lola said looking to Jimmy. "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

"After everything you put him through," Zoe said. "Yeah, he's going to let me talk like that."

"I didn't say—"

"'I put him through?'" Lola said. "Please! Jimmy knew full well what he was doing when he messed with Johnny."

"He wouldn't have messed with anyone if you weren't sleeping around with the whole damn school," Zoe said.

"Not my fault I'm a—"

"No!" Zoe interrupted. "You're not a 'modern day woman.' You're just a skank who manipulates people for fun."

"That's enough!" Jimmy shouted.

Russell started to walk over to the girls while Clay and everyone else left in the building watched anxiously.

"Oh sure, and you're more a woman than I am?" Lola said snidely. "I'm surprised people don't mistake you for a dude with clothes that—"

Right then, Russell pushed both women away from each other, placing himself right in the middle.

"Hey!" Both of the women said.

"Ladies no shout!" Russell said firmly. "This friendly place!"

"As if!" Lola replied backing away towards the door. "Fine! I can see when I'm not wanted."

"You finally learn," Zoe sassed.

"See if I ever help any of you again," Lola huffed and stormed out through the door.

Clay looked back at the group and then to the closing door. This wasn't right. Yeah, Lola was being obnoxious and self-absorbed, but it felt like Zoe started that fight for some reason. Plus, something pricked at the back of his conscience to do something about it. He couldn't explain why, but it felt right for some reason. He walked towards the door.

"Just let her go," Zoe said to him. "It's not worth it."

Clay turned around and opened his mouth to say something, only to not have anything clever or coherent to say. He then awkwardly exited out the door to catch up with her. This probably was a stupid idea, but again, when has that ever stopped him?

Lola was already making her way to the shoreline as Clay jogged down to catch up.

"Hey!" Clay said trying to catch her attention, but she ignored him. He persisted though as he closed the gap between them. "Lola, wait!"

"Are you going to call me a skank too?" Lola said without breaking her stride.

"No," Clay replied keeping pace with her.

"I know you're thinking it. Everyone thinks it. I hear what they say."

"Hold on," Clay then said stepping in front of her to make her stop.

"What?" Lola said annoyed. "What do you want? Why do you keep following me around?"

"I…?" Clay said confused before continuing. "Look, just calm down and talk to me."

"Why should I?"

"Because he's the only person who wants to stay friends with you, you ungrateful bitch," Janet then said approaching them. Lola turned around to face her.

"Oh yeah?" Lola huffed.

Uh oh, Clay thought to himself. He tried to stop Janet from talking, but he was too late.

"You see anyone else trying to stop you?"

"Just watch," Lola said. "They'll need my help sooner or—"

"No they won't! You don't have anything useful to offer them. You don't have any skills that would require your assistance. Why would they come to you for anything?"

"I—"

"Prove me wrong. What can you possibly offer that they would need? Name one person who wouldn't instantly tell you to go away."

Lola hesitated before looking back to Clay and pointing at him. "Clay wouldn't."

"That's because he's a naïve teenage boy who doesn't know any better!"

"Hey!" Clay said insulted. This was not going how he hoped.

"You drove your boyfriend insane," Janet continued. "You got kicked out of your clique. The other cliques don't want you around. Everyone knows you're a slut and you wear it proudly like a brand on your forehead. Yet you still act like you're the queen of the school. How freaking delusional are you?"

"Well—" Lola started to say.

"Newsflash!" Janet said. "You're on everyone's shit list. Nobody trusts you. And you're pushing away the few people who want to help you. Why do you think ANYONE would put up with an airheaded, self-absorbed bitchy slut like you? I'm amazed Clay does! You've done nothing but get him in trouble so far. Maybe think about someone other than yourself for once in your miserable little life! Because it's going to be a hellishly long and lonely year for you if you can't get your shit together and learn some goddamn common sense!"

A painfully awkward silence lingered in the air before Lola turned and walked away from both of them. Clay thought he heard her sniffle and saw her wipe at her eyes. He should run out to stop her, but that feeling in the back of his mind was gone. And he didn't expect anything he could say would make amends for everything Janet unloaded on her. Nothing she said was wrong, but it was pretty vicious.

"…thanks for the assist," Clay mumbled sarcastically to Janet as he walked away.

"Clay, wait," Janet said.

She didn't follow him as he decided to take a detour route through the town to have some alone time. This was supposed to be a good evening where plans would take shape. Now it turned into a huge downer. Janet was right about one thing though. This year was going to be hellishly long…


	7. Tensions Of All Kinds

_"_ _Gooood morning, Bullworth. It's time once again for the on the hour news. First up, tensions are running high as world leaders continue their nuclear pissing contest. Everybody wants them, a few people are allowed to have them and someone might be threatening to use them. Is the world coming to an end as we know it? More on that later. But first, it's official. Acting juggernauts Sally Finster and Hartly Mann have divorced after she outed his less popular brother Manny as gay through aggressively homophobic remarks. Whose side are the Vinewood royalty openly or secretly on? Let's go to our correspondent Steve Tatler for his educated guess…"_

* * *

Clay quietly strolled across the campus to the main building. He managed to get a little extra sleep since Jimmy made their workouts every other day. Still, his mind was wrestling with a number of things. The state of the school cliques. His little payback mission against Trent. Auditioning for the musical. The stuff with Lola. A lot had happened in one night and not all of it went down well. How he managed to get himself caught up in so many things over the course of a weekend was beyond him.

The door slowly closed behind him as he entered the school building. There weren't as many students wandering around since he got there earlier than usual, but he did spot a couple random non-clique and new students going about their business. He also saw a couple of the bullies huddled in a corner talking about something he could care less about at the moment. He could also hear them laugh at his direction as he walked up the stairs, with one of them definitely calling him 'Crabblebitch.' He didn't care about that either though. Right now, he had something to do.

Clay power walked down the hallway leading to the drama club room. Sure enough, as he hoped would be the case, Mr. Felton was outside taping the audition sheet on the door. It was quiet enough that Mr. Felton could hear Clay's footsteps approaching, causing him to turn around and notice him.

"Oh hey," Mr. Felton said in his usual flamboyant tone. "An eager beaver signing up for the musical?"

Clay nodded unenthusiastically.

"Excellent! Well, don't let me get in the way," Mr. Felton said backing up from the door and holding out a pen.

Clay took the pen and stepped up to the sign-in sheet. It was a pretty basic piece of paper, with the name of the musical in cheap font with the word 'Audition' in bolder print. Below it was a two column table with the top lines reading 'Name' and 'Preferred Part (write 'any' if not).' Clay clicked the pen and began writing. Under the preferred part column, he wrote 'ELDER WHITEY' in the largest letters he could fit to make sure Trent didn't miss it. Clay didn't worry if it was a bad idea doing that or not, because he knew it was. Still, after what happened last night, he wasn't in much of a mood to worry.

That did not escape Mr. Felton's notice.

"Hold on," the teacher said stopping Clay from leaving. "I only just met you, Mr. McKinley, but blue is not a color or mood that suits you very well. Is everything ok?"

Clay didn't respond, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Hm…" Mr. Felton said putting his hand to his chin and taking the pen back from Clay. "Nope nope! This will not do." He walked past Clay and opened the door, motioning for him to follow. Clay looked out to the clock nearby, seeing that he still had plenty of time before his next class. He sighed and followed Mr. Felton into the room.

"Bad vibes are like an anchor, young man," Mr. Felton said pulling up some chairs. "And nobody likes watching a boat with open sails being weighed down for no good reason. Sit."

Clay wasn't quite sure if that metaphor translated well, but he obliged the teacher and sat down, leaning back in the chair as Mr. Felton eased himself into his own seat.

"Ugh, my back is killing me today," the teacher said. "Gotta ask the hubby to be less cuddly when I'm sleeping. Now, what's got you down with a case of the grumps?"

Clay sighed and looked down at the floor.

"Silence is not a golden rule here," Mr. Felton said waving a finger. "You can tell me whatever is on your mind. Nothing leaves this classroom."

It looked like Clay wasn't getting out of this without saying anything, so he looked up to speak his mind. "Why does everyone suck at this school?"

Mr. Felton raised an eyebrow.

"All they do is argue, fight and hurt people," Clay said. "It's just-"

"They're teenagers, Clay," Mr. Felton said. "Young people are confused and stupid at this age."

Clay crossed his arms.

"I'm seriously serious! It's nothing personal. When I was in high school, you would not believe the catty bitches I had to deal with. All the kids would say, 'Hey, it's Big Gay Albert!' Like, was that supposed to be a clever insult? Even the gays thought I was too gay for them. They all ignored me, threw food at me, and teased me. I felt like the biggest loser for years."

Clay continued to listen without emoting much.

"But then one day, I decided to be an adult and embrace what I was. I am big. I am gay. And I am Albert! If anyone had a problem with that, they could kiss the fattest part of my fabulous ass. You wouldn't believe how much that boosted my confidence."

"…did you make more friends after that?" Clay asked.

"Oh lord, no. I waited until college to meet people worth my time."

Clay sighed. That wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"But you don't have to be like me," Mr. Felton continued. "Kids are mean, but it all stems from demons they bottle up inside. Maybe it's something they can't let go or something they're afraid of admitting. Part of becoming a good grown-up is confronting those demons and getting past them. Sometimes, people have to learn the hard way. And let me tell you, if people don't confront whatever is inside them, they become super weirdos. Just look at some of the teachers here. Really messed up. True story."

Clay mulled over what Mr. Felton said before speaking again. "Someone got their feelings hurt badly last night."

"You don't have to address yourself in the third person," Mr. Felton said.

"No, I actually mean someone else."

"Oh…ok! Silly me. I shouldn't interrupt. Continue."

"She had it coming...kind of. I just…I don't know. I shouldn't feel bad about it, but I do."

Mr. Felton rubbed his chin again. "Ah, empathy. What a twisted sister you are."

"…yeah," Clay said before continuing. "I felt like I should have said something, but I didn't know what would make her feel better."

"Hm…out of curiosity, was it that girl who's attracted to you?"

"I mean, maybe she is, but-" Clay started before realizing what he said. "Wait, which girl?"

"Oh, that sweet little black girl who sat next to you yesterday. I thought it was obvious."

Clay's mouth was agape at that statement, but he brushed past it to continue. "No! No, a different girl."

"Ah. Sorry. I have a seventh sense for spotting that kind of chemistry and a sixth sense for spotting gayness. Such a blessing and a curse!"

That was something Clay would file away for now as he attempted to continue. "I…uh, I…I just feel bad. Like, I should have said something to her."

Mr. Felton thought for a moment before he continued. "You said she had it coming?"

"Yeah…I mean, she…she sometimes acts like….I don't know. She talks about herself a lot. And she can be kind of rude."

"Mmhmm," Mr. Felton said nodding. "People like that are tough nuts to crack. Especially teenage girls. Ugh, just the worse! If they really want to change though, they have to do it on their own. You babying them enables their bad behavior. I say give her a little space. If things change, then that's dandy. But you don't want to get sucked into something that'll hurt you in the end."

That wasn't what Clay wanted to hear, but he had a feeling Mr. Felton was right. Maybe Lola was just a bad influence on him. It was probably for the best if he left her alone for now. Though to be fair, she usually found him when she wanted to talk.

"And you can always talk to Big Gay Albert about anything," Mr. Felton continued. "I may not be 'one of the guys,' but I've taught enough classes to handle a lifetime of teen drama. Also, if you're going to be a part of this play, we need a good working relationship and any relationship has to be built on trust."

Clay smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Felton."

"Oh, don't you sweat it, Mr. Thespian. Now run along. I'll see you tomorrow."

Clay sat up and walked to the door. Admittedly, talking to Mr. Felton made Clay feel a little better. He still felt bad about Lola, but hopefully that could be resolved for the best. He didn't like the thought of anyone being sad and cast out, considering he had been on the receiving end of that stick once before. That little revelation of Janet having a crush on him though was…interesting to say in the least. Was that Mr. Felton reading too much into it or not? That would have to wait.

Clay pushed open the door and was about to leave…until he looked at the sign-up sheet.

"Oh geez…" he said seeing what was on it.

"What what?" Mr. Felton said walking over and seeing the sign-up sheet. "Oh dear…"

Clay's name had been heavily scribbled out from the top of the list and the word 'Crabblebitch' had been written off to the side. The second line, to no surprise at all, had Trent Northwick's name on it with a preference for the Elder Whitey role

"I smell competition brewing," Mr. Felton said giving Clay back the pen. "Write your name again. I'll make sure no one scratches it out."

Clay groaned as he went to write his name once more, while also crossing out the 'Crabblebitch.' The gauntlet had been thrown and the challenge made. He could only imagine what was coming next…

* * *

Clay entered the art classroom a few minutes early and took a seat at the nearest canvas. The classroom was very much what he expected an art class to look like. There were shelves upon shelves of paint cans, brushes, easels, canvases and all sorts of supplies on every way. The wall were very colorful and there was a rustic wooden design to the floor. There was no traditional teacher's desk though, with a small table in the middle of the room serving as the central hub of the class.

The students slowly but surely trickled their way into the class. Most of them were people he wasn't familiar with, but seemed to be the types of people who would enjoy an art class. So it surprised him when he saw who the student was that sat at the canvas on his left.

"Oh, hey," Mandy said noticing Clay.

Clay turned to face her. Sure enough, she continued to wear her cheerleader outfit and her hair was up in a ponytail. She definitely had a style.

"Hey," Clay replied back. "How's everything going?"

"Fine, I guess," Mandy said. "God, school can be boring." Clay didn't have anything to follow that up with, but he didn't really have time to before she started to talk again. "I heard you and Casey beat up Norton after you left the party."

"Well…" Clay said. "I kind of accidentally tripped him. That's it."

"Yeah I figured Casey was exaggerating. Still, the guys seem cool with you so far."

Clay was about to say something before he clued in on what she said. "So far?"

"You never know when you'll be back at the bottom of the food chain. Jimmy's been up and down with them after the big game."

That was…not very encouraging. It was right then Clay noticed Beatrice sit at the canvas to his right.

"Hey Clay," she said. "How did you-?" She started before seeing Beatrice next to him. "Oh…"

"Speaking of bottom of the food chain," Mandy said to Clay. "Still not getting any dates, four eyes?"

"Still failing your classes, bimbo?" Beatrice shot back.

The two of them huffed at each other while Clay awkwardly looked to see if the teacher was coming. Apparently he inadvertently stumbled into the middle of a catfight.

"Careful around her, Clay," Mandy said. "I hear 'loser' is contagious."

"Not nearly as contagious as stupidity," Beatrice sniped back. "This 'loser' is going to medical school. Remind me what job prospects you have again?"

"Too bad no one from Bullworth has ever gone to med school."

"You take that—!"

"Can we…" Clay interrupted lifting up his hands to metaphorically separate them. "Can we not fight right now? It's too early in the morning."

The two girls glared at each other for a few seconds before looking back to their canvases. Great…more girl problems, Clay thought to himself. As if last night wasn't enough.

The door opened and a couple of adults walked in. Clay recognized Mr. Galloway right off the bat. The other woman who walked in with him was an interesting sight to see. She was a very attractive woman overall, with a beautiful face, lean body and…well, large breasts. Just to put it simply. She also had brown hair with blonde highlighted tips, a gray turtleneck with a brown jacket over it, a leather skirt, dark nylons and high heel boots. Even if he hadn't already guessed she was the art teacher, he would have believed it if someone had simply described her appearance.

"Your lunch's in the fridge," Mr. Galloway said before kissing her on the cheek.

"Not in front of the students, Gallybear," the woman giggled with a sultry, smoky kind of voice.

"Oh god…" Mandy muttered to herself disgusted.

"Hey everyone," Mr. Galloway waved as he walked out of the room. "Make sure to do your assignments for next class."

As he left the room, the teacher walked over to the table and sat on top of it. "Good morning, class," she said. "For the new students, my name is Ms. Phillips. This class is to help enlighten the mind to abstract concepts and explore the inner depths of the soul. Art is not simply painting after all. It's expression of what cannot be put into words." She then pulled out a clipboard. "Before we get started, I'll do a quick attendance."

While she started at the top of the list, Clay felt something on his right knee. He turned to see Beatrice discreetly put a folded piece of paper and a pen there while keeping her eyes towards Ms. Phillips. Clay took the paper and pen, also discreetly opening the paper so no one else would notice. On the paper, Beatrice had written something:

DO YOU THINK I'M COOLER THAN MANDY?

Y/N

Clay hated this kind of question. He wasn't a guy who enjoyed playing favorites when he had no strong opinions on the people involved. Mandy did grill him the first day they met, but they seemed to be on good terms at the moment. Still, he didn't want to say no or not answer either. He circled the 'Y' and slid it back to Beatrice.

"Luis Luna?" He heard Ms. Phillips say.

"Here," Luis replied.

"Lola Lombardi?"

No reply. Clay looked around and didn't see a trace of her.

"That's odd," Ms. Phillips said. "I know I saw her yesterday. Anyone seen Lola this morning?" None of the students replied. Whether it was that they didn't know or didn't care, Clay wasn't sure. Ms. Phillips raised an eyebrow. "Huh. I hope she shows up next class…"

Clay hoped so too…

* * *

Lunchtime came again and Clay followed Beatrice out of the class towards the cafeteria. The art class was pretty easy this week. Mostly them doing some basic sketches to see what their basic skills and styles were. Ms. Phillips did say he had an excellent eye for bold characterization from the sketches she saw. 'Like a top tier graphic novel' was how she put it. It was a nice little confidence boost.

Beatrice looked back to see Mandy leave the classroom and meet up with another jock nearby a locker. She scoffed and looked to Clay.

"God, why does she have to be so mean all the time?" Beatrice said.

"Well…" Clay said. "You weren't being very nice either."

"I'm just sick of it," she replied. "All last year she teased me. Calling me 'four eyes,' 'metal mouth,' 'ugly,' 'fugly,' 'pig ugly,' 'stupid,' 'loser.' I can only take so much, Clay."

Clay nodded. He could sympathize with that.

"Thanks by the way," Beatrice said.

"Hm?"

"For saying I was cooler than her. You didn't have to."

"Oh well…" Clay said. "I mean, you are cool."

"How?" She said as they walked down the stairs to the center of the building leading to the cafeteria.

"Being smart is cool," he said. "And you've been nice to me since I've been here."

"Aw thanks," she said. "I think you're cool too."

"How?" He said redirecting the question.

"You're a lot nicer than most guys here. More balanced too. It feels like all the guys are compensating for something, but you don't have anything to prove."

"I don't know about that…"

"And no one else would have walked me home like that, so that's cool."

"Well, you're welcome."

Beatrice grinned happily as they reached the bottom of the stairs. As they were about to head to the cafeteria though, Clay felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see Janet looking somewhat troubled.

"Hey," she said. "Can I talk to you?"

He still felt conflicted about Janet at the moment, what with everything that happened last night and Mr. Felton's observation that morning. Still, she seemed like she had something important on her mind. He looked back to Beatrice and held up a finger. "Be back in a minute."

"Ok," she said. "See you inside."

Beatrice walked into the cafeteria while Janet pulled Clay off to the side to talk. A few students passed them by on the way until they were more or less alone.

"So…" Janet said. "I'm sorry for insulting you last night."

Clay raised an eyebrow while crossing his arms.

"I called you a 'naïve teenage boy.' That was….that was mean."

"Yeah…" he said. "It kind of was."

"I know. I felt really bad about it. You're…you're not naïve for wanting to be people's friend. I just…I didn't want Lola to push you around."

"She wasn't?"

"No, she was. You might not have seen it, but she's been trying to wrap you around her finger. Still…I let myself get carried away."

Just a little, Clay thought to himself before choosing something better to say. "I mean, nothing you said was wrong."

"Yeah, but getting carried away has caused me problems before and I don't want to push away a friend because of it."

Clay nodded but noted what she said there. "So…we're friends?"

"I want to be," Janet said. "If that's cool with you."

A small pause lingered before Clay nodded again. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

Janet smirked and gave Clay a big hug, which he reciprocated after the initial surprise. "Good," she said breaking the hug. "I'd hate to awkwardly avoid each other the rest of the year."

"Yeah, that would suck," Clay said. "You should probably apologize to Lola too."

"Do I have to?" She said.

"You did kind of yell at her until she cried. Plus, it would make you the bigger woman."

"Well there wasn't any doubt of that. Alright, where is she?"

"I don't know. She wasn't in class this morning."

That caused Janet to pause. "Oh…"

"Yeah…"

"…well, if you see her, let me know," she said slightly worried.

Clay didn't want to heighten the worry, but he sort of felt the same way. Lola didn't seem like someone who would vanish without a word. If anything, she'd make as noticeable an exit as she could. Hopefully, they could find her before she did anything drastic.

"Come on," Janet then said. "No sense worrying on an empty stomach."

The two of them made their way to the cafeteria and were about to get in line…when Clay spotted Trent and his goons at a table next to them. He had no time to react before one of the bullies pointed at him.

"There he is," the guy said as Trent stood up and walked over to him.

"The hell you think you're doing, Crabblebitch?" Trent taunted.

"…getting lunch," Clay replied sarcastically as Janet stood beside him.

"That part's mine. I've been in that club for too long not to earn it. I'm not letting some damn new kid wimp take what's mine from me."

"Are you really that chicken shit?" Janet taunted.

"Shut up and let him not be a pussy," Trent said before looking back to Clay. "Or does she have bigger balls than you, Crabblebitch?"

Their little show drew the attention of some of the other students, including Beatrice, Bryce, Mandy and Jimmy at a couple tables nearby. Clay didn't reply to Trent's insult.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Trent said getting up in Clay's face. "You're just a little minnow in a tank full of sharks. Well you know what, sharks eat minnows like you. So how about you go back to the classroom and take your name off the sheet right now?"

Clay wasn't sure if he was more upset at Trent making fun of him so close to his face, disgusted by his bad breath or confused at the odd metaphor he used. Still, he did his best to hide his nervousness. He wanted that part just as badly as Trent did and he had promised everyone he was going to audition. He couldn't back down now. So, even though it was a struggle, he didn't budge.

"What? Are you deaf AND stupid? I said go do it!" Trent said.

After several more seconds, Clay finally mustered up the courage to say something he shouldn't have said before.

"…no."

Trent's eye twitched at that. "I'm sorry. I don't think I heard that correctly."

"I said no," Clay said more sternly.

Trent glared at him harder. "You're going to take your name off—"

"Or what?" Clay taunted back feeling slightly more confident as something took over. "Are you going to cry?"

Trent took a step back as Clay tried to look bigger. He had to stand up for himself here. What would Jimmy do in this situation? Probably hurl insults. That would be very out of character for Clay to do, but what else could he do?

"Yeah," Clay continued. "That's what you'll do. You'll cry because you know you suck so bad at acting that you have to bully people out of auditioning." Trent seemed angry and very confused at Clay's sudden surge of aggression. Clay was honestly surprised too, but he was on a roll. "What's the matter? Are you scared I'll get the part? Scared I'm going to mop the floor with you without even trying?"

Clay thought he saw some very confused looks from his friends watching the scene, but he wasn't paying attention to them as he got up in Trent's face. "I don't have to scare you out of auditioning. You know why? I got big balls, Trent. Huge ones! And I'm going to slap you in the face with them so hard you'll stink of my sweat for weeks. You know why? Because you're nothing but a big freaking loser!"

Trent gripped the collar of Clay's uniform and cocked a fist to slug him.

"You throw one punch and you're going straight to detention!" They then heard Edna yell while she served something that looked completely inedible to a student. That drew everyone's attention to the two of them.

Trent held his hand up for a few seconds, still gripping Clay's collar. Clay did not flinch at all when Trent was about to hit him, which was impressive considering how the first day went. He was still sweating bullets, but he couldn't look weak right now. He talked too much smack to back down.

After another few seconds, Trent released Clay and pointed to him backing away. "You're going to regret this, Crabblebitch."

"My name is Clay!" Clay said even more boldly. "You remember that, because that's going to be on the callback sheet when I get the part."

Clay thought he saw a vein bulge on Trent's forehead before someone from a nearby table spoke up.

"Nerds," they said nonchalantly.

"Shut up!" Both Clay and Trent said to the student at the same time before looking back to each other. "No, you shut up!" They said at the same time again. "Stop doing that!"

Both of them went silent before Trent looked to his gang. "Come on!" He said…but no one followed him as he started walking, prompting him to stop. "Today, ladies."

"We're kind of eating here, dude," that Tom bully from the other day replied.

Trent was about to yell something else, but calmed down before looking back at Clay. "Fine. Whatever. I need to go practice anyway. Because I'm going to blow Mr. Felton's mind." Trent started to walk away….only to walk back and pick up his lunch tray. He took a bite of an apple he got and pointed at Clay as he walked off. "Like I said, you're going to regret this."

As soon as Trent walked out, everyone in the lunchroom went back to business as usual. Well, except for Clay still standing there letting his guard down and shaking much more noticeably. That just happened. He stood up to Trent. He almost got socked in the face for it, but he did it. He looked over to where Jimmy was sitting, who gave Clay a big thumbs up. Well, he got some approval for his little show.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Janet then said to him concerned. "That's definitely not the Clay I've been talking to."

Clay tried to offer an answer, but he had nothing to give. That did feel really weird acting out the way he did. Almost like he was a different person. He had only had one major incident where that happened before…and it was the reason he got sent to this school. All he could do was stare blankly at Janet and shake his head.

"I…I don't know," Clay replied meekly.

Janet crossed her arms for a bit before giving him a pat on the shoulder and led him to the lunch line. "Guess I'm rubbing off on you after last night," she said somewhat joking. "But I suggest you don't apologize to him yet…"

* * *

The second class bell rang and Clay was sitting on the bleachers in the gym dressed in his school appropriate workout clothes. He was still buzzing over what happened in the cafeteria, with an equal amount of excitement and anxiety. He had never done something like that before and it felt good to stand up for himself. Still, it scared him how easily he could shift into that demeanor. He usually was so mild mannered. Was the school bringing that part of him out again? And Trent's expected threat of retaliation had him on guard. People have already harassed him on and off since he arrived, so he wondered what else they could do. Well, as long as he was around other people and in sight of adults, despite how unhelpful they can be, Trent could only do so much.

He noticed all the other students surrounding him on the bleachers. It was kind of strange seeing the nerds and preps mixed in with the jocks and the greasers, but here they all were. There were also some of the girls mixed in, though they were likely to split off into their own group for cheerleading or other physical exercises.

It was then that Clay saw Jimmy and Ricky sit next to him on the bleachers.

"How's it hanging, tough guy?" Jimmy said giving Clay the same playful jab on that shoulder every jabbed at. "Look how fast you've progressed under my tutelage. Trent thought you were his bitch the first day. Now he's yours."

"I don't know about that…" Clay replied.

"What's that guy's problem anyway?" Ricky added. "It's a freaking play. Who the hell gets bent out of shape over that?"

"Guys insecure about their own self-worth," Jimmy said.

"Yikes," Ricky said. "If that's how he gets over a musical…"

Hearing the guys talk about that brought Clay back to his chitchat with Mr. Felton that morning. Perhaps Trent was just like everyone else at this school. All the bravado, threats and aggression were just outlets to hide their true shortcomings and fears. It didn't exactly excuse the behavior, but it gave Clay something to think about. So then what was Clay's little outburst covering up for?

The gym doors opened and an adult walked inside. This was someone Clay had not seen before and he almost wish he hadn't. It was a middle aged woman with her messy brown hair tied in a bun and school appropriate sweats. She was also incredibly butch, with a stocky build and frumpy general appearance. She also had a huge mole on her nose and he swore he saw yellow teeth. Before he could think anything else about her, the teacher blew the whistle around her neck.

"Get on your feet!" She barked with a deep voice.

Everyone immediately stood at attention as the teacher paced in front of the group like a drill instructor.

"My name is Mrs. Langley and I will be your physical activities instructor this year," she said not letting up from her barking tone once. "After what happened with the sexual predator last year, the school board decided the program needed a woman's touch. But don't you men think that I'm some pansy ass because I am a woman. If I hear even one hint of degradation or harassment from you miserable worms, I will personally gouge out your eyeballs and make you run laps until the soles peel off your feet!"

"Burton 2.0?" Clay heard Ricky whisper to Jimmy.

"Gender swapped Burton," Jimmy whispered back. "I'll give her a semester."

"And you know why I am harsh like that?" Mrs. Langley continued. "Because I am fair! Life is hard, so I will be hard. You will run laps! You will wrestle! You will play whatever games I choose! There will be no room in my gym for wimps, losers or crybabies! You!" She then said pointing out Algernon from the front row. "Get up here!"

Algernon groaned as he waddled his way to her.

"What is your name?" She said.

"Al…Algernon?" He replied.

"What's your excuse?"

"…huh?"

"I'm asking the questions here! What's your excuse for your sorry state?"

"….I…I read books a lot."

"A smartass, huh? If you're so smart, you'd know what horrible things you're doing to your body by being so fat. Do you know the strain that much weight puts on your bones? Do you know what it does to your internal organs? Your heart?"

"…ye-yeah…"

"Then why the hell don't you do something about that?"

Clay could see Algernon shaking from the embarrassment this teacher was subjecting him to. This was starting to get really uncomfortable. He then saw Casey giggle at the situation, which drew Mrs. Langley's attention.

"Oh you think that's funny, meathead?" She snapped at Casey, who seemed incredibly surprised to have the attention drawn his way. "Get down here!"

Casey hurried from his spot to the bleachers, clearly confused why he was being singled out.

"What is your name?" Mrs. Langley said.

"…Casey," he replied.

"Answer me truthfully, Mr. Casey. Are you know or have you ever used steroids?"

Clay saw a small bead of sweat form on Casey's brow.

"…n-no, ma'am."

"Don't you dare lie to me, numb nuts! I know disproportionate muscles when I see them and we know for a fact Mr. Burton gave steroids to the players. Are you telling me that all of this bulk was legitimately earned by hard work and healthy eating?"

"….y…yes…"

"Do you know the health risks 'roiding out can cause to your heart? What it does to your balls?"

"…no, ma'am."

"On your faces! Both of you!"

Casey immediately dropped to the ground for push-ups, while Algernon hesitated before seeing what she meant and slowly positioned himself.

"Fat Albert, give me ten!" She barked. "Little nuts, give me a hundred!"

Casey started doing push-ups like a machine while Algernon's arms shook as he attempted to do his first push-up.

"Fairness!" Mrs. Langley said to the rest of the class. "I want everyone here to be in the best shape possible. You have futures to live and being fat or cheating will only make things worse. We are going to be so health conscious in this school that even the thought of a chocolate bar or television show will fill your very being with disgust! So while Laurel and Hardy finish their push-ups, everyone else give me ten laps around the basketball court. Double time!"

She blew her whistle and everyone filed out to start running. What she was doing felt wrong. Still, she was the one in charge. One thing was for sure though: he was going to be sore after this class…

* * *

Sure enough, Clay felt every muscle in his body tingling or throbbing as he left the shower room and left the gym. Running, push-ups, crunches, up-downs. This lady was running them like a proper military with how intense the workouts were. And all because 'she cares too much' about their health. Sure she did…

A few of the nerds nearby were still wincing and moaning from the workouts, with Algernon in particular looking especially humiliated. She was particularly brutal to them, as she considered them the low end of the totem pole. Not that anyone else got it any easier, but Clay figured that burning that much fat or building up that much muscle should be a more gradual process. This lady was all or nothing though. The only thing impressive about her was how long she could keep shouting at everyone. Clay's throat hurt thinking about the strain that much yelling would cause and he didn't even say anything that entire class.

While he rubbed a muscle under his arm, Jimmy and Ricky strolled out looking eagerly exhausted.

"Crap…" Ricky exhaled.

"I didn't even know I had some of these muscles," Jimmy said rubbing his side.

Clay looked to see Casey and a few of the jocks leave the showers. For some reason, Casey's stride was a little off. Clay couldn't quite explain it, but it was almost as if Casey was being overly conscious about his balls after what Mrs. Langley said. So he really was taking steroids…

Clay returned his attention to Jimmy and Ricky as he decided to ask something that was still on his mind from before.

"You guys seen Lola today?" He said.

"Nope," Ricky said.

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

"She wasn't in class this morning," Clay replied.

"So?" Ricky asked.

"…so, that just seemed weird."

"She's probably letting off steam," Jimmy said. "Don't worry. She can act that way."

Clay sighed. His sense of guilt over certain things may seem unreasonable, but he couldn't help himself. He felt responsible for letting Janet go off on Lola like that, even if it was bound to happen at some point.

"Hey," Jimmy said to Clay. "I ever show you the clubhouse on the field?"

Clay shook his head.

"Good enough a time as any then," Jimmy said before looking to Ricky. "Wanna join?"

"Eh, fine," Ricky said as Jimmy led them past the gym to the lower part of the campus.

A grass field came into view as they approached a large flight of stairs. Clay always knew football fields were a big part of a school campus, but that was especially true here. A large scoreboard loomed over the field and the goal posts looked equally imposing. There were quite a few bleachers around the field and a wooden fence encircled the outskirts. There was also a route that led somewhere else behind the campus on one side, but Clay couldn't see where.

Finding the Clubhouse, however, was not very hard. It was a large brick building on the right side of the field, with big windows on the front and a small stone staircase leading to the door. Clay had a feeling it was there for storing sporting equipment, but apparently it was also a clubhouse? He decided not to question that too much.

It was strange, however, that the field was devoid of jocks at the moment. The only other people there were a couple students chitchatting near the bleachers.

"Is the team practicing today?" Clay asked while they walked down the stairs.

"Last I heard," Jimmy said. "They're still learning the basics on how to handle a female coach."

"How long does that take?" Ricky asked.

"I don't know. They have to sit through a bunch of 'sensitivity training' videos to remind them how awful they are and how much women can do anything they can."

"Glad I never signed up for sports," Ricky said as they crossed the field and walked to the clubhouse.

"What's the scoop on Norton?" Jimmy asked Ricky.

"I hear he's still a bit peeved after actor boy here tripped him," Ricky said pointing to Clay. "Otherwise, he's really quiet lately."

"Hm…I'll see if I can do some digging."

Once they made it to the clubhouse, Jimmy walked a little faster and pulled out a key to open the door first.

"Just to warn you," Jimmy said. "The stink of jock is going really strong here. Sweat, sports drinks, empty futures. The usual. But if you ever need a place to stay outside the dorms after curfew, it's pretty cozy."

He proceeded to stick the key into the door…only to find it had already been unlocked.

"Huh?" He said.

Jimmy pushed open the door and did a quick check-up on the area. He sure wasn't kidding about this being a jock haven, as Clay could see tons of sports equipment arranged in piles, stacked on shelves or in those little boxes at nearly every corner. There was also the usual assortment of inspirational posters and manly decorations about to not seem too sissy. There was even a bed and a dresser presumably for when people crashed here like Jimmy mentioned.

What seemed to be out of place, however, was who was sitting on the bed with their shoes off, head against their knees and staring at the back wall without acknowledging their arrival.

"Lola?" Jimmy asked confused and kind of concerned.

She didn't reply.

"Lola, what's going on?" He continued. "How'd you get in?"

"…I asked the teacher nicely…" She murmured still not looking at them.

Clay and Ricky looked to each other confused. She had been hiding out here all day? That was at least sort of good news. Still, she seemed…unusually sullen. To be fair, Clay had only seen her at her usual speed before now, so he couldn't tell for sure. Jimmy's reaction to it made it seem unusual though.

"…is something up?" Jimmy asked again.

She refused to answer once more.

After a slight hesitation, Jimmy walked back towards Clay and Ricky. Clay peeked over his shoulder to see Lola still sitting there motionless. Something felt off about this and it was bothering him.

"Maybe we should just leave her alone," Jimmy whispered to them, urging them to follow. However, Clay didn't budge. "Hey…"

Clay raised a finger to ask for a minute as he walked over towards Lola. Maybe this was a sort of sign. He didn't get his chance to talk politely to her yesterday, so maybe this was a chance to try again. He could also potentially make things worse, but he felt he should do this. Whether she would try to wrap him around her finger again or not, it was the right thing to do to cheer her up.

He approached the bed and stopped, giving them a little space. He looked back to Jimmy and Ricky, who watched curiously.

"…Lola?" Clay then said looking back at her.

He couldn't tell if he saw her relax slightly or not for sure, but she still didn't respond.

"Hey…" He said gently sitting at the opposite end of the bed. "You ok?"

Her hand moved a little to scratch an itch.

"You can talk to me," he continued thinking back to their chat by the fountain. "You shouldn't be here by your lonesome."

After a slight pause, she quickly glanced back towards the door before facing the wall again. "Make them leave," she whispered to him.

Clay turned to Jimmy and motioned for them to leave. Jimmy nonverbally protested, but Clay insisted. With a sigh of annoyance, he and Ricky closed the door and waited outside…or maybe they left. Clay wouldn't be able to tell.

He returned his attention to Lola, who finally moved to look at the wall to her right. Her mascara had smeared under her eyes from crying and her overall expression was surprisingly depressed. He wondered how long she had been here and how long she had been like that. He didn't say anything though, letting them sit their quietly for a couple minutes to allow her to speak when she felt like it.

Which she eventually did.

"…am I just a skank to you?" Lola said not looking at Clay.

He shook his head.

Lola slouched forward resting her head on her knees once again with her feet firmly planted on the mattress. "What else am I if I'm not a skank?" Clay didn't really know how to answer that question, but she didn't give him time to speak anyway. "Seems like that's all I'm good for. Being selfish, getting guys hard and manipulating people."

Clay twiddled his thumbs and listened patiently.

"…people are stupid," she continued. "Life's stupid. It's just an endless parade of shit upon shit. You try to be a nice person and you're weird. You try to be a bitch and you're a terrible person. You try to stand out, people ignore you. What's the point of even trying? School's a waste of time. Friends leave you. People die. Nobody gets what they want. It all amounts to nothing in the end…"

Clay rested his hands on his lap and took a deep breath before speaking. "…what is it you want?"

She finally looked into his eyes, unsure how to respond. "I…I…" She said before looking back at the floor again. "…I don't know."

Clay waited again for her to speak. He didn't expect what Janet said to shake Lola up that badly. He suspected this wasn't the first time she had been called a bad word like 'skank,' but he didn't think last night would be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Maybe she had finally reached her limit.

"…I don't want to be nothing…" Lola then said.

Clay rubbed his arm and looked over to her. "…I don't think you're nothing."

She didn't reply to that.

"…Janet felt really bad about last night," he said. "She…she went too far. I felt really bad too."

"…how am I not nothing?" Lola said not acknowledging that last statement.

Clay paused. He didn't expect that question, but he decided not to wait. "….everybody's something."

"You don't really believe that…."

"I do."

"…why would anyone care about me?" She said. "I can't do anything but seduce people. And even that doesn't work anymore. Everyone hates me."

Clay could sense the possibility she was fishing for compliments, but he tried to be respectful as he could.

"…you've been kind of mean to people," he said. "And you hurt a lot of feelings." She didn't reply to that. "People make bad decisions. But…it doesn't have to define you."

"How can it not?" She said. "Everyone tells me how terrible I am around every corner."

"…well…." Clay said sighing trying to think of the right way to approach the next thought he had. "…do you think you're a skank?"

"…sometimes."

"When do you not think you're a skank?"

"…I don't know."

Clay turned to face her. "Still…the fact you don't always think that means you don't have to be one."

"…but that's how I've always done things."

"Well…maybe you can try something else," he said trying to sound a little more confident. "You don't want people to call you a skank? Change that."

"…then how will they pay attention to me?"

Clay didn't expect that question but he wouldn't let that stop him. "Well…how do other people on campus get noticed?"

"Beating people up?"

"Ok, don't do that," Clay replied rephrasing the question. "What kind of people do students genuinely like the most here?"

Lola didn't answer right away.

"Um…what kind of people do you genuinely like the most here?"

After another short pause, she finally replied. "…people like you."

Clay blushed intensely and looked to the floor. "Oh…uh, like…how so?'

"You're honest…and you're a nice person."

The two of them said there in silence for a while, not budging or making a sound. This was proving to be a tricky conversation to work with, but at least she was talking now. He tried to think of something to continue that line of thinking organically. She beat him to it though.

"…the first day you got here," Lola finally said. "When I said I told the prefects about the fight…"

Lola didn't finish that sentence, but Clay figured out what she was about to say. "…that wasn't true, was it?" He asked.

Lola shook her head. "I wanted the credit so you would trust me."

Clay slightly kicked his feet against the ground. So…everyone was right. She was just trying to manipulate him. It shouldn't have surprised him, but it was still a bummer to hear. However, he didn't expect for her to confess. That seemed like a big deal for her.

"You looked so…innocent," she continued. "Like you could really use a friend. So when I saw the fight, I saw an opportunity that could benefit me. Because that's all I do." She sighed and looked away from him. "So why would you want to hang out with a lying skank after hearing that?"

Clay sighed. It was sad that she lied, but he did truly believe that people didn't have to be defined by one or two things they did. Lola probably did more than two, but the point still remained. An idea then crossed his mind. She had been honest confessing something to him. He should return the favor. Plus, it had been in the back of his mind ever since his little show at the cafeteria.

"…back in Utah," he started. "When I got into that fight…I broke a guy's arm."

Clay could sense Lola slowly turn to look at him, but he didn't look up as he continued. "I was so scared when they attacked me. They had me backed into a corner and they just kept punching me. I didn't know what to do…and then…and then something happened. Like I just…"

He snapped before continuing. "…like that. I didn't know what came over me, but I tackled one of the guys and…" He paused as the memories of the fight flashed in his head, almost making him lose his train of thought. "It was so quick."

He thought he could hear Lola slide over closer to him as he continued to speak. "I regret it every day. I still feel bad when people call me a nice guy. I don't…I don't feel like I am. But I really want to be. I just…don't want to be 'that guy' ever again. I don't want it to define me…."

Silence lingered for several more seconds before Clay turned to see Lola sitting right next to him. He wasn't quite sure what that look in her eyes was. Sadness? Concern? Longing? Maybe it was something more complex than that. Still, they stared at each other's eyes for several more seconds like that, not saying a word…

"I guess…I guess we've all done our fair share of bad things, huh?" Lola asked.

"Yeah…" Clay replied curious over what she was think.

And then Lola leaned forward, closed her eyes and kissed him!

The shock on Clay's face must have been as intense as it felt, but what was stranger was how…sincere the kiss felt. It wasn't like that first kiss they had where she planted it on him like a stamp. This one felt more genuine. Like a moment of connection that they had not had before then. Like someone who wanted to feel something more than just empty pleasure. And it did feel as nice as before. Apparently recalling horrible stories about his past was kind of romantic…which was something he never would have assumed.

Clay closed his eyes and returned the kiss, placing a hand on top of hers. They held that kiss for a while before she broke it, leaned back and they both opened their eyes.

"…sorry," she said blushing.

"No, it's…" Clay replied equally embarrassed. "It's…it's fine."

They sat there quietly for about a minute before Lola spoke up again. "…have you told anyone that before?"

"…no. Just you." He admitted. "Figured you shouldn't be the only one to come clean."

Lola smiled at him, her fingers stroking against his hand. Clay's heart was beating so hard it would burst from his chest if it could. Maybe this was them being hormonal teens and getting carried away, but it was definitely a moment of bonding whatever it was.

"…why can't more guys be like you?" She asked.

Clay shrugged. "I guess...it's what makes me something and not nothing."

Lola looked down to her hand on his and then back to him. "Will you help me become something?" She asked. "I don't have anyone else I can trust."

"Absolutely," Clay said with a smile.

Lola beamed and wrapped her arms tightly around Clay for a giant hug. He gasped at first at how tight she hugged, but he managed to return the hug back once he positioned himself better. She stroked his back slightly and rested her head on his shoulder. It felt warmer than usual between them, but Clay could handle it. He felt good being trusted and that was what mattered the most.

After several more seconds, Lola slowly backed herself up from the hug and looked deeply into Clay's eyes again, stroking a hand on his cheek. He could sense what she was thinking and he felt nervous about acting on it. Thankfully, she decided to say it anyway.

"Maybe we could…" She said nervously with some anticipation as she connected her hands behind him. "…indulge a little more…"

The two of them almost in synchronization leaned forward and kissed again. This time, however, Lola seemed to be a little more…hungry. Clay was slightly caught off-guard as he felt her tongue against his lips, but matched her as they moved into a full-on make-out. She moaned and wrapped her arms around him, reaching up and stroking the back of his neck. He equally embraced her, sliding a hand through her hair as their tongues danced together. She pressed her body close to his, with her ample top resting comfortably against his chest. Time seemed to melt away as they continued from one messy kiss to another. He really wasn't that experienced with making out, but he was in too deep to admit he was an amateur now.

Lola then leaned backwards and dragged Clay towards her onto the mattress. They continued to lock lips while they positioned themselves comfortably with him on top of her. Feeling himself pressed against her body like that was certainly…arousing. She could definitely tell, but didn't seem bothered in the least bit as their hips pressed against each other and she wrapped her legs around his body. That just made him more excited. He cradled her head in one hand while her hands explored his back and chest. After a little bit more, Lola stopped their make out and looked up at him, though with a hand still caressing his cheek.

"Can we…not have sex?" She said between pleased pants.

"I wasn't…planning to," he replied also panting.

"Good," she said planting another kiss on him. "Though it's going to be…" She planted another kiss. "…hard not wanting…" Another kiss. "…to be skanky…" Once more. "…with you."

They chuckled as they continued kissing more. He honestly did not expect things to go this way, but hey…he wasn't complaining. Maybe that was part of what being a naïve teenage boy was all about…

* * *

Clay approached the door of the Lighthouse right around 6 PM as planned. He still felt a little…dazed. Probably confused too. That was the most intense make-out he had ever been in…and the only one. He had kissed a couple people before, but never like that. He couldn't even believe how fast it went by. By the time they felt like they had worn themselves out, it was already time for him to meet Janet.

He was also impressed that they managed to resist going too far that whole time. He was certainly tempted, but he managed to keep himself in check. Though he had to be honest…he had an intense case of blue balls after all of that. It was starting to die down, but it was an uncomfortable feeling. He almost felt like Casey after Mrs. Langley insulted his balls. Hopefully things would improve while he rehearsed.

Clay checked the door to make sure it was unlocked and opened it slightly as he looked inside. Janet was inside preparing a CD player and organizing some sheet music, but she wasn't alone surprisingly. That Cornelius guy from the other day was off in the back practicing his vocal scales while Christy and Algernon conversed at the table. Even Bryce was there, though he seemed to not look in the mood to rehearse.

Ok, so more of a full house than Clay expected, but they can work with that.

"Hey Clay!" Janet said as everyone else directed their attention to him and she noticed he was blocking something out of view from the door. "What's up?"

"Well, uh," Clay said nervously. "I was just wandering about the neighborhood and, uh, bumped into someone."

He opened the door to reveal Lola. Both of them had cleaned themselves up after their little session, with Lola taking a little longer to reapply her mascara. She was also snacking on an energy bar they picked up from the Yum Yum Market, since she hadn't eaten anything since the night before. Everyone in the Lighthouse had a variety of reactions to this little reveal, ranging from Janet's surprise to Cornelius's indifference.

Lola sighed as she entered the building next to Clay and put her energy bar in her pocket. Clay wasn't sure how she would respond, but he did say that coming here would be a good first step to making amends. Which she decided to do to Janet first as she walked up to her.

"Hey…" she said still a little embarrassed.

Janet looked over to Clay surprised, who shrugged and motioned for her to talk to Lola. She put her hands to her sides and took a deep breath. "Lola, I…"

"No, I'm…I'm sorry," Lola interrupted. "I was being a bitch all night and…and that's not cool."

Janet seemed…unsure about this. Clay figured maybe she thought she was being pranked or something, but at least he knew the truth. After a couple seconds, Janet looked to Lola and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for yelling at you too."

Lola smirked and then turned to everyone else. "And…I'm sorry to everyone else for…well, a lot of stuff, I guess."

A silence lingered over the group before they answered all together.

"Ok," Algernon said.

"Sure," Christy said.

"Whatever," Bryce said.

"I've got a song to memorize," Cornelius said not looking up from his script.

Lola looked to Clay, who gave her a discreet thumbs up. She had been super worried how this would all turn out, but he assured her everything would be ok. And it looked like he was right for once.

"So…can I watch you guys practice?" Lola said.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Janet said. "I mean, we won't sound great-"

"Nah, you'll be fine," Lola said moving to take a seat. "I bet you and Clay have a great set of pipes."

Clay then notice Janet give him a most peculiar glance. Was it confusion over what just happened? Surprise that Clay managed to humble her? Concern for what might happen? Or did she suspect something happened between Clay and Lola? Which that part did, but that wasn't something she needed to know about. Whatever the case, she eventually shrugged and brought some sheet music over to Clay.

"Here's the Elder Whitey songs," she said handing him some papers, which were copied from the original songbook. "Take your pick, Oh and you owe me $15 for the music."

"$15?" Clay asked surprised.

"Hey, getting that book wasn't cheap," she said with a smirk. "If you had been there, you'd understand."

Clay rolled his eyes as he looked through the songs. With Lola in the audience and everyone else there practicing, it was going to be a very interesting evening…


	8. Flashing The Goods

_"…_ _leaving five wounded and four people emotionally traumatized. But enough about the Megadix concert last night. It's time for our first morning caller. We've got a passionate listener on the other line who has a burning question for yours truly about current political unrest. Caller number one, you're on mic with Mick."_

 _"_ _Uh, yes Mick. Hello..."_

 _"_ _Hello, caller. May I ask your name?"_

 _"_ _Oh, yes, my name. It's uh, it's…Juan…dito…"_

 _"…_ _Juandito?"_

 _"_ _Yes. Juandito…French. I'm from a rival radio show and I was wondering what song you're going to play next so we can steal your idea."_

 _"…_ _this is the morning news show."_

 _"_ _Oh, so you're going to be boring the whole morning? Because we actually play stuff people want to listen to on our station."_

 _"…_ _John, who screened this call?"_

 _"_ _Come on, answer me, you sissy. Pick a song to play…*snicker*…pick a song to play and stop being a boring little turd."_

 _"…_ _how old are you, Mr. French?"_

 _"_ _Don't you know it's rude to ask someone their age? What…*snicker* what kind of jerk are you…? Hahahahahaha…!"_

 _*Click*_

 _"…_ _goddamn kids. Alright, caller number two…you better be worth the time…"_

* * *

Clay shut off the water in his shower and exhaled deeply. For some reason, he felt really good that morning. The practice last night, though a little disorganized, ended up going pretty well. He found a song he really wanted to use for the audition and found a duet piece he could do with Janet if they made it for callbacks. With that stuff moving forward and the Lola drama settled for now, things were looking up. Sure he had another early morning training with Jimmy to look forward to, but it was worth it. If he could stand up to Trent now, he wondered what else he could do by the end of the year. And they had a beach party to look forward to tonight. Yeah…things were good today.

He opened his curtain and reached out to pick up his towel…only to find nothing there!

He looked over to see not only it was gone, but so were his clothes. He stepped out a little and checked around the shower area. He was the only one there at the moment, which was good that no one could see him right then but bad because someone could see him if he tried to look for his stuff. Worse still, his keys to his dorm were in his pants pockets. He figured locking his room when he wasn't there after Trent's threat would be good, but apparently that wasn't protecting him from harassment.

"Hello!" Clay shouted. "Who took my stuff? This isn't funny!"

No one responded. Clay groaned and closed the curtain before leaning against the wall. How long could he wait for someone to stop by and help him out? And even then, how could he open his door without his keys? He stood there, still dripping wet, as he debated his options. Could he risk running out to look for his clothes without anyone seeing him? Maybe he was lucky and everyone was still asleep. If they weren't though…

Clay peeked out from behind the curtain. Not hearing anyone nearby, he tiptoed his way carefully out to the front door. He felt incredibly vulnerable dripping wet and naked like this, but what else could he do?

It only got worse, however, when he made his way to the front and couldn't find any spare towels. He gasped and looked around, covering his privates in case anyone might walk in. Great…now he had to mad dash out of there and see if he could find his keys anywhere. Part of him protested though. This was a trap Trent set up. He knew that for sure. Still, he was shivering like a Chihuahua and he was going to be late if he didn't do something.

Thinking quickly, he shook himself off in a nearby shower stall to get some of the excess water off. Once he felt somewhat drier, he walked to the door and peeked outside.

What shocked him was he saw his clothes and towel strewn about in front of his door. He almost smiled…until he realized it was a trap. No one seemed to be in sight, but he knew something was going on. There was almost no way this wasn't going to end badly, but he weighed his options to see how he could mitigate the damage. If he ran fast enough, maybe he could—

"Sup, Crabblebitch," someone said behind him.

Clay jumped to see one of the other bullies in Trent's group pull back a shower curtain and surprise him.

"Not so tough now!" The bully said rushing towards him.

Clay bolted out and slammed the door into the bully's face, knocking him backwards. He then rushed over and bent down to pull his keys out of his pocket. If he could just—

And then he heard a camera click and a flash of light from behind him. He turned to see Trent and some of the other bullies laughing while Trent snapped pictures of his naked body with a digital camera. Clay shrieked as he pulled out the keys, stuck them in the door, opened it and kicked the rest of his clothing in before slamming it behind him. Unfortunately, Trent had got a good five more pictures in during that time.

Clay pressed his back against the door and hyperventilated as he heard the bullies continue to life.

"Dude, you hear him shriek like a bitch?" One of the bullies said.

"What a pussy!" Another bully said.

Clay started to tear up as he heard the bully from the showers walk over to them.

"God, that hurt!" He mumbled.

"Oh suck it up, Troy," Trent said.

Clay listened as he heard the group huddle together and most likely look at the photos.

"…this feels real gay," one bully said.

"Your mom's gay," Tom taunted back.

"Geez, he wasn't kidding," another bully said. "He does have big balls."

"Shut up," Trent said walking away. "Man, wait until we print these out. He wants to show off his big balls? We're going to help him."

Clay held in his panic while the bullies left the dorm. He decided to recant everything he had thought earlier. Today was going to suck…

* * *

Clay paced around the practice field in a panic waiting for Jimmy. He was dressed now, but Trent was still out there with those photos. If he didn't do something, he was going to be the laughing stock of the school. He tugged on his hair nervously and kicked up dirt with his frantic pacing.

"Wow, you're here early," Jimmy then said approaching from the abandoned bus station before noticing Clay's worried state. "…what's up?"

"It's freaking Trent!" Clay said kicking a can nearby. "He ambushed me."

"He tried to beat you up?"

"No…he stole my clothes and took pictures of me naked."

"…that's pretty gay even for him."

"Right! But he's threatening to spread those pictures all over the school. Geez, why did I listen to you? I shouldn't have said anything yesterday. Now I'm going to get freaking humiliated again!" He said continuing to pace before stopping and looking to Jimmy. "What am I going to do?"

He saw Jimmy think over it before snapping his fingers. "Ok, new lesson plan for today. If you can't beat up your opponent, you got to fight dirty. Follow me, tough guy."

Clay hesitated while Jimmy scooped up an old looking backpack and walked towards the bus before realizing Clay wasn't following. He turned back and waved for Clay to follow. "Come on! Unless you want people to know how big your balls actually are!"

That made Clay hustle over right away. He groaned as the two of them rushed out the bus and ran across the campus towards the library. Clay didn't know what kind of plan Jimmy was cooking up, but he was too preoccupied to pay attention. Once they got closer to the library, they spotted Melvin and another nerd Clay didn't know talking about something while holding a Grottos and Gremlins manual.

"Hey Melvin!" Jimmy said as they got closer. "Is Fatty here?"

"Ah, Sir James," Melvin said beginning his usual theatrics before Jimmy cut him off.

"Yeah, cut the schtick," Jimmy said. "We need a stink bomb."

"Oh," Melvin said in his usual voice pointing to the library. "He's in the history section."

Jimmy led Clay into the library as the nerds continued on what they were doing. Clay had not needed an excuse to go in here before, but he didn't have much time to soak in the environment. All he could notice was that it was a large library, with lots of shelves full of books and a general color scheme of green all around. They strolled through the aisles until they found Fatty writing at a table next to a stack of books.

"Fatty," Jimmy said as they approached, causing Fatty to stop what he was doing.

"Ah, Jimmy and Clay," the large nerd said. "What can I do you for?"

"How are your wares looking? We need a stink bomb, pronto."

"I can provide that," Fatty said reaching down beneath the table and pulling out a rather large suitcase. Clay looked at it skeptically as the nerd unlatched the case and revealed an assortment of items inside. There were two large glass containers full of a disgusting green liquid, a bag full of stuff, firecrakers, itching powder, fake dog poo, silly putty and a whole ton of other items. So…the library just let this guy carry that stuff around? Fatty leaned back and put his hands behind his head with a smirk. "Usual fare. Five bucks."

"Fine…" Jimmy said looking to Clay.

"What?" Clay asked.

"Give him the money."

"Wait, wha-?"

"Do you want to stop Trent or not?"

Clay grumbled as he reached into his pocket and gave Fatty five bucks. He was going to use that money for something else, but not anymore.

"Excellent," Fatty said pulling out one of the glass containers, along with a string attachment for the cover. "I assume you want the tripwire for a locker."

"You assume right," Jimmy said stuffing the stink bomb in his backpack before pointing to the bag. "Oh, and I'm calling in one of my favors. Gimme the marbles."

"Fine…" Fatty grumbled tossing the bag to Jimmy.

Clay was about to complain, but Jimmy started walking away. He looked to Fatty and grumbled. "…thanks." He followed Jimmy out of the school and looked at the bag of marbles in his hand. "Why couldn't you ask for the stink bomb as a favor too?"

"Because I didn't want to use them all up Jimmy said handing Clay the marbles. "Plus, you have to learn how to handle business yourself. That's part of the lesson."

The two of them hurried over to the school. Whatever Jimmy's plan was, Clay hoped it worked…

* * *

Jimmy checked to see if the coast was clear before leading Clay to where Trent's locker was. The halls were mostly clear save for some prefects patrolling the area and a few students who ignored the two of them.

"Keep an eye out for prefects," Jimmy said as he went to work on Trent's combination lock.

Clay sighed and checked the halls around him. Good…now they were going to break into Trent's locker to get payback. Crabblesnitch's warning echoed in his head again…though he technically wasn't fighting. He hoped that counted for something if they got caught.

Which seemed like it might happen as he saw a prefect round a corner.

"Pst!" He whispered nudging Jimmy in the side.

Jimmy stopped what he was doing and turned to face Clay while also whispering. "Ok, just act nonchalant."

"How?"

"I don't know. Talk about something."

Clay watched the prefect head their way as he thought of something to say. "What's Trent's problem?"

"You're stepping on his toes," Jimmy replied. "I told you that you had to be ready for this."

"Still, the guy ambushed me and stole my clothes!"

"Yeah, that's going too far," Jimmy said watching the prefect pass by. "You want me to rough him up for you?"

"I don't know…" Clay said also watching the prefect. "Maybe I should just—"

"Don't quit now, tough guy," Jimmy replied. "Or Trent's going to hold that over you the whole year. You asked to do this, so we're going to see it through."

"Fine…" Clay said watching the prefect leave as Jimmy got back to work. "How do you know Trent's locker combination?"

"I keep tabs on Bullworth's most wanted," Jimmy replied. "If we're going to take down the cliques, we've got to be prepared."

The lock clicked and Jimmy opened the locker up. Trent's locker setup was pretty basic. Some books on the top shelf, a jacket hanging on a hook, a picture of some actors posted on the door, a pair of shoes, a banana and a handheld mirror.

"No sign of the camera," Jimmy said. "Trent must have it still. Set me up the bomb."

Clay unzipped Jimmy's bag and handed him the stink bomb. Jimmy quickly placed it between some of the books on Trent's shelf and looped the string through the locker handle. Clay could see what was going on. When Trent opened the locker door, the string would tighten and release the stinky stuff right at him. He didn't want to know how bad that was going to be.

Before Jimmy closed the locker though, he saw a piece of paper tucked against the books. He grabbed it and quickly peeked inside.

"Well," Jimmy said showing Clay the paper. "Now you know what his audition song is."

Clay glanced at the paper. Sure enough, it was sheet music for _Missionary._ Not only that, but it was the big solo number Elder Whitey sings near the end of the show. How very…predictable. That was the song that won the original actor a Tommy award, but it's just so cliché to pick that piece.

Jimmy put the paper back and closed the locker door. "Come on," he said leading Clay to the other side of the hall. Clay looked at the bag of marbles in his hand once again as they walked.

"What do I do with these?" Clay asked.

"Ever wondered how slippery a marble is?"

"…not really."

"Throw it on the ground if someone's chasing you and you'll find out," Jimmy said spotting a student walking by. "Watch this," he then said approaching the new kid and pulling out a couple of bucks from his pocket before pointing to Trent's locker. "Hey, new kid. I'll give you two bucks if you pretend to break into that locker."

"Huh?" The kid asked confused.

"Trust me. It's for a good cause," Jimmy said tucking the dollars into the kid's vest. "I got two more when you're done. Consider that a down payment."

The kid seemed lost by what he stepped into, but decided to go along with it as he rushed over to the locker, messing with the lock as if he was going to break in.

"…you had money too?" Clay asked realizing what Jimmy just did.

"Like I said, you got to learn," Jimmy replied spotting a group of people coming up the stairs. Clay turned to see Trent among them, prompting Jimmy to push him away "Go hide. I got this."

Clay didn't wait as he walked over to one of the inner hallways, put the bag of marbles in his pocket and waited next to a wall of lockers and peeked back to watch Jimmy.

"Hey," a student next to him said. "You're in front of my locker."

"Oh, sorry," Clay replied taking a step back and watching Jimmy signal over to Trent.

"Northwick!" Jimmy said.

"What do you want, Hopkins?" Trent asked walking up to him.

"Oh nothing," Jimmy replied pointing to the locker. "Just thought you might have a problem with that."

Trent did a double take as he spotted that new kid by the locker. "Hey!"

Clay couldn't see past the corner as Trent ran towards the new kid, but he heard loud footsteps running away. The new kid must have wisely abandoned what he was doing once he saw someone chasing after him. Clay slinked over to the corner to watch the rest of the scene unfold as Jimmy approached Trent next to the locker.

"Why the hell didn't you stop him?' Trent asked.

"Not my fault you can't keep track of your stuff," Jimmy said. "Who knows who else has been trying to break in?"

Trent grumbled as Clay saw him fiddle with his combination. "You're really a piece of work, Hopkins. You know that?"

"Maybe I am," Jimmy said looking at Trent's pockets. Clay spotted Trent's camera in his back pocket, meaning he hoped Jimmy did too. Trent's combination lock clicked and he began to open it as Jimmy took a few steps back. "But at least I'm not a stinker."

"Huh—?" Trent managed to say before he opened the door and the stink bomb exploded green gas at him. Trent coughed and gagged stumbling back from the locker, leaving his back exposed. Covering his nose, Jimmy rushed over and snatched the camera from his pocket.

"Got yah!" Jimmy said as he ran past Trent and down the opposite hallway. Clay followed as he saw Jimmy pass by the new kid and place two more dollars in his hand without breaking his sprint. "Good work!'

Clay figured that was his cue to leave as well. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far before Trent managed to spot him.

"You!" Trent said sprinting, still coughing from the stink bomb. Technically Trent couldn't directly blame Clay for the attack since he wasn't at the scene, but Trent didn't seem to care about proving anything.

Clay bolted towards the stairs and ran down as Trent gave pursuit. He slinked past Pinky and some of the preps on his way down, who were about to stop him before Trent ran by and the stench from the stink bomb caused them to gag. Clay didn't pause to apologize before running out the front door.

The sun shone right in his eyes as he made a sharp left away from the stairs. He spotted a short piece of railing around the side that he could hop over to run around the building, which would allow for a quicker way around. Which he needed as Trent burst through the doors and saw him again. Not wasting a second, Clay ran to the railing and hopped over.

Thankfully the pavement was only a slight drop below. He landed on his feet and spooked Angie, Ricky and some of the younger kids who were walking nearby.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" He said bolting down towards the southern part of the campus. He looked back to see Ricky watch Trent hop over the railing to give pursuit, only for Ricky to trip Trent as he was about to chase Clay. Ricky and Angie ran off while Trent tumbled to the ground, giving Clay an opening to escape. Though he did realize he was running into an open area, meaning there were no direct corners he could hide behind. There was, however, a garbage can nearby slightly obscured by the school as he rounded the corner. There must have been some kind of irony at play when the idea popped in his head, but he figured it was as good an option as any as he quickly juked to the side and hopped into the can.

He covered his mouth to muffle his breathing as he waited to see if Trent would run by. He also covered his nose in the process. Even though the bag had been replaced recently, the stench of whatever leftover food that had been thrown in there before lingered. Great…he was stink only slightly as much as Trent by the end of this.

Some loud footsteps were heard running past the garbage can, prompting Clay to be extra quiet as he listened for Trent to leave.

"Hey!" Trent shouted at someone. "Where'd Clay go?"

"Who?" That Troy guy from earlier asked.

"The Crabblebitch! Where did he go?"

"I haven't seen him."

"Oh come on!"

The first class bell rang, causing students to start rushing around.

"He stole my freaking camera!" Trent continued.

"The one with the pictures?" Troy said.

"What other freaking camera do I own? Yes, that one!"

"Dude, you're going to be in trouble if someone sees those pictures."

"Don't you think I know that? Move it!"

Clay heard the two of them run off the other direction. He actually did it. He totally gave them the slip. Well, at least for now until they bumped into each other again. Still, that along with detonating a stink bomb on Trent was kind of…exhilarating.

After another minute, Clay hopped out of the can and took a breath of fresh air. Well…that was settled. Or at least he hoped so. He wondered what Jimmy was going to do with that camera to get the photos off, but he was confident the guy would get it done one way or another. Jimmy had his back so far, so there was no reason to doubt him now.

"Hey you," Clay heard a prefect say from a distance pointing at him. "Get to class!"

Right…class. Clay walked away from the prefect and was about to head back to the main entrance…only to remember he had shop class that morning. He sighed and walked towards the prefect.

"What did I say-?"

"I got shop class," Clay said annoyed as he power-walked past the prefect and made his way to the entrance nearby the fountain. Handling Trent was a trial in itself. Now he was entering the Greaser territory where he was definitely not welcome. Norton did say he could come for classes, but he had no idea if they would not harass him any other way…

* * *

Clay considered all the rotten luck he was having as he entered the auto repair shop part of the garage and saw almost exclusively Greasers. Norton and a few of the Greasers glared at him before going back to a conversation they were having. Well…at least Clay recognized a few familiar faces among the crowd that wouldn't push him away immediately.

The place reeked of rubber, oil, car fumes and all kinds of stuff one could expect from an auto shop. There were a couple old cars nearby and a row of bicycles on the opposite side. There were also some chalkboards, shelves with repair gear and all sorts of useful things scattered about. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

It was right then Clay felt a hand pat on his back. He jumped before seeing Jimmy and Ricky stand next to him.

"Miss me?" Jimmy said surveying the garage.

Clay calmed down before asking the obvious. "So…where's the camera?"

"I smashed that sucker," Jimmy said to Clay's shock before he smiled. "Nah, I'm kidding. I got it. Need to use our leverage at the right time."

"What happened?" Ricky asked.

"Trent tried to pull a Mandy and post nude pictures of Clay around the school."

"Shit…"

"Right? We focus on the bullies until the audition. Sound like a plan, Clay?"

Clay nodded and looked over to Ricky. "Hey. Thanks for helping me back there."

"No prob, Bob," Ricky said. "I scratch your back. You scratch mine."

"Yeah, I owe you one."

"And I'm holding you to that," Ricky said as one of the adults entered the garage.

Clay turned to see the man walk in wearing a collared shirt and slacks that made him very visibly a mechanic, on top of the grease stains and the unshaven stubble. He moved the greasy brown hair out of his eyes as he looked to the students.

"Everyone here?" The adult asked without waiting for an answer. "Good. Name's Neil for the newbies. I run the shop. While you're in my house, you follow my rules. No if's, and's or but's. And first rule of the garage: only Seniors can work on the cars. That ain't changing."

A couple grumbles were heard from some of the younger students.

"That's how it works," Neil continued. "Everyone else, pick a bike and get yourselves situated. I'll pass out your syllabi in a bit."

The students made their way to the bicycles and picked up a couple tools along the way. Clay followed suit and found an open bike nearby Ricky and Jimmy.

"This class is a no-brainer," Jimmy said to Clay. "Hence all the grease monkeys. Present company excluded, of course" he added noting Ricky.

"Yeah yeah," Ricky played along as he twirled a wrench.

"So, what happened with Lola yesterday?" Jimmy asked checking one of his tires.

"Oh, we, uh, just talked for a while," Clay said not wanting to 'kiss and tell.'

"Talked, huh?" Ricky said. "Did that talking involve your wang at any point?"

"Nope. She had a lot on her mind and she just vented to me."

"Vented on that bed," Jimmy said teasingly.

"Look, I didn't sleep with her, ok," Clay said annoyed. "We just talked and I tried cheering her up."

"How'd it go?"

"Good. She behaved herself the whole time we were practicing for the musical."

"And everyone was cool with her being there?" Ricky asked.

"She apologized to them about the other night," Clay noted picking up his own wrench. "And a lot of other stuff. They seemed cool about it." He looked up to see Jimmy and Ricky give him a skeptical glance. "What?"

"Have you ever heard Lola apologize for anything?" Jimmy asked Ricky.

"Nope," Ricky replied. "Not even when Johnny was around."

"Well, she did," Clay said. "Ask Janet or any of the other people there. They'll back me up."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Jimmy said as Norton and one of his goons walked over to the group, causing Jimmy to roll his eyes. "What do you want, Norton?"

"Just so we're clear—"

"'Clay's not allowed around the garage after class,'" Jimmy interrupted. "Yeah, yeah. Look, why not let bygones be bygones? You guys got off on a bad start and it got out of control. Clay, you're sorry, right?"

"Yeah," Clay said meeting Norton's stare.

"See, he's sorry that you were beating up Casey and you're sorry you acted like a thug. Everything's hunky dory."

That didn't seem to help anything as Norton leaned against the table.

"Maybe we're just tired of being treated like a joke here, Hopkins," Norton said.

"Yeah!" Norton's goon said. "Everybody's gonna learn not to mess with the Greasers."

"Oh really?" Jimmy said crossing his arms. "Like they learned when we kicked your asses last year? Remind me. My memory's a little fussy. How did that little uprising pay off?"

"That's 'cause Gary got his hooks into Johnny," Norton said. "I'm not a bitch like he was."

"That 'bitch' was your best friend, asshole," Ricky said not able to ignore the conversation anymore.

"Speaking of bitches," Norton's goon said. "Look who it is. Crybaby Ricky."

"Johnny was ten times the leader you think you are," Ricky continued. "He didn't exile people like you did. He kept us together."

"Yeah. And he kept people like you and that tramp around," Norton said. "Look how much good that did him."

"He believed in strength in numbers. You're just tearing the group apart."

"You got to clean out the gunk to keep the engine running," Norton said. "And you were nothing but gunk stinking up the whole place."

Ricky slammed his wrench on the table and made his way angrily to Norton before Jimmy stepped between them.

"Alright. That's enough, ladies," he said.

"Yeah, Ricky," Norton's goon said. "Listen to mommy."

"Shove it up your asshole, Peanut," Ricky said.

"My name's Larry, dipshit!" Peanut said cracking his knuckles.

"Ok, Larry," Jimmy said to him and Norton cracking his own knuckles. "How about you both sit your asses back down before you do something you'll regret?"

"The only thing I'll regret is not beating you into paste," Norton said as he and Peanut walked back to their bikes. "You better watch your backs. All of you."

Jimmy stared them down until they were far enough away before looking back to Clay and Ricky. "Well…I think that went rather nicely."

Clay rolled his eyes and sat at the chair nearby as he saw Neil walk into the room. The Greasers were most likely going to be just as much a problem as the bullies. The question, however, was how to they handle two threats at the same time?

* * *

Clay could still feel some of the grease on his fingers as he walked into the main building for lunch. He had soaked that spot for a while in the sink, but it was pretty thick. He figured that must have meant he did a good enough job at the shop class. If he had come out completely clean, he wasn't doing it right.

Several of the students walked to the cafeteria as Jimmy followed behind him through the doors. "Man, I don't know what it is," Jimmy said. "Some people just have it out for you."

"I don't know," Clay shrugged. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Nah. They just sense someone with actual talent and potential. You know how it is with crabs in a barrel. It's not just a black people thing."

"Huh?"

"Old expression. Basically, people here hate people who aren't losers like them. Why do you think they attacked me?"

"…because of your winning personality and choice of friends?"

"Well yeah, but—" Jimmy was about to say before he spotted Trent and Tom heading to the cafeteria. "Hold that thought. Time to use that leverage."

Clay followed Jimmy as they walked over to the bullies, Jimmy with his chest puffed out to intimidate them.

"Hey, Trent!" Jimmy said, causing the bullies to stop and about face towards them.

"Hopkins!" Trent seethed. "Give me my camera back or I'm telling Crabblesnitch."

"You're that desperate, huh?" Jimmy said crossing his arms that way he did when he was confident in something. "You've called people wusses for less."

"I need that camera for photography class," Trent said looking at Clay. "And I know this was your doing, Crabble-."

"My name is Clay!" Clay shouted not wanting to hear that word ever again. "And I bet the headmaster would love to hear how you were taking naked photos of me to post all over the campus."

Trent hesitated as Jimmy nodded.

"Yeah, you really messed up writing 'T. Northwick' on the bottom of the camera," Jimmy said. "And what's your SD card labeled? 'Trent's Picks' if I'm not mistaken? You almost had us though. If we didn't nab your camera, we'd never have the proof to link it to you."

Trent started to sweat as Tom slowly walked away.

"Where the hell are you going?" Trent asked.

"I didn't hear nothin'," Tom said not looking back and entering the cafeteria.

Trent returned to the present scene as Jimmy reached into his bag and pulled out the camera. "You want this, don't you?" Trent reached out for the camera, but Jimmy pulled his hand back. "Nuh uh. You get this back if you promise you'll leave my boy alone until after the audition."

Clay raised his eyebrow over why Jimmy specified 'after the audition,' but didn't add anything else.

"And what if I don't?" Trent said.

"First of all, dude, if you got a crush on Clay, just say it," Jimmy teased. "This stalking stuff is creepy. Second, and related to that point, if you don't leave him alone, Crabblesnitch is going to see your pervy little collection. Ambushing a student for naked photos is one thing, but those pictures of the other girls? You're lucky they're wearing stuff, but I'm pretty sure not all of them asked you to take those photos. That'll be an awkward talk with your dad."

Trent looked like he was going to scream, but he just exhaled in an attempt to control himself. "I've wanted a part like that my whole time here," Trent said. "I'm the only guy who took this goddamn drama club seriously while everyone else played amateur hour. I mean for God's sake, Cornelius played Juliet in a play! And now the Mormon wants to steal the part from me because it's a Mormon based musical?"

"'The Mormon' wants the part just like any other drama nerd wants it," Jimmy said. "You think you deserve it so badly? Beat him fair and square. Because I'm stopping this right now."

They stood like that for a few seconds before Trent relented. "…fine." Jimmy handed Trent the camera, which Trent immediately opened up and checked for the SD card only to find nothing there. "Hey!"

"What, you think I'm stupid?" Jimmy said. "If you got any actually important photos on that card, I'll have Pete put it on a thumb drive. Otherwise, borrow a card from Ms. Phillips."

Trent pocketed the camera angrily and looked at Clay. "You really are nothing without Hopkins behind you." He said walking off to the cafeteria to rejoin his group.

Clay exhaled as Jimmy turned to face him. "Well…that's one problem on the backburner," Jimmy said. "For now."

"What am I going to do about that?" Clay said.

"We got dirt on him, but just keep practicing and be on your guard. Trent's going to be pissed when you get the part."

"…if I get the part."

"No. Think positive. You want something in this school? You got to be assertive," Jimmy said looking at his watch. "And…that's the end of my lesson. A little longer than usual, but hopefully you learned something."

Clay rolled his eyes as he pulled out the bag of marbles to give back to Jimmy.

"Oh, no. Keep that," Jimmy said. "You never know when you'll need them. Come on, I'm starving."

Clay pocketed the marbles and followed Jimmy into the cafeteria. He didn't feel like everything was resolved with Trent, but they made their threat and Clay was certain Jimmy would follow through with it. They bought some time. Now Clay had to figure out what to do with it…


	9. Making Waves

Clay returned to the main building before first bell rang for his second class. After the commotion that happened today, he had forgotten that he had left his new camera in his room. As he entered the main floor, he noticed that his step was a little lighter than usual. He knew what of course. Though he was still a little hesitant celebrating about it so soon, the way he and Jimmy got one over on Trent was finally sinking in. Now they had incredible leverage if Trent decided to harass him again…

…before the audition. That was the one thing preventing him from fully celebrating. Jimmy had to add that little qualifier to their ceasefire. Why not the rest of the year? Why not forever? Was this another one of his 'lessons?' Clay felt he had learned enough today by stopping people from spreading naked photos of him. At least nobody would start referring to that as 'pulling a Clay' instead of 'pulling a Mandy,' though he figured he should not use that Mandy phrase anytime soon. Chances were that it was a Jimmy Hopkins original.

Speaking of Mandy, Clay spotted her looking a little worried nearby a locker. He was going to leave her to whatever thoughts she was thinking, but she spotted him.

"Hey," Mandy said motioning him to come over. "You got a minute?"

Clay looked up at the clock. He only had a couple minutes, but his nice guy urges were too strong to resist. He strolled over and nodded.

"Thanks," Mandy said. "Are you taking Photography today?"

"Yeah," Clay said showing off his camera. "I was heading over there."

"Great! Me too. I was wondering if maybe you could be my…'camera partner' or whatever you'd call it?"

Clay raised an eyebrow.

"I know, it's a weird request. I just…I'm not the artsiest photographer and I know Ms. Phillips likes when people collaborate. Also, I kind of forgot my camera today and I don't want to get paired up with some weirdo or nerd."

At least she admitted the real reason. Though he apparently also wasn't considered a weirdo or nerd in her book, so that was a slight perk.

"Sure," he said.

"You're the best," she said walking to the stairs. "Come on."

Clay followed by her side while other students walked about to the rooms. An older woman watched everyone like an angry hawk nearby too, which made Clay uncomfortable as she glared at him before walking towards another male student nearby.

"Ignore her," Mandy whispered as they passed by the woman. "That's Mrs. Peabody. It's nothing personal against you. She hates all the boys here."

That didn't really help, but it was useful information should that ever be an issue. The two of them strolled down the hall and walked into the class right as the second bell rang. The class was full of the usual suspects, including Jimmy, Pete, Pinky, Bucky…and Trent. Trent gave Clay a stern glance of 'I really don't like you, but I can't do anything about it' before looking back towards where Ms. Phillips was sitting.

Clay also noticed Lola talking to Ms. Phillips while he and Mandy sat down at some open chairs. He couldn't hear their conversation over everyone else talking, but he figured she was explaining her absence from the art class. Ms. Phillips seemed to be fine with whatever she said though, as they gave each other a quick hug before Lola walked to the other chair open to Clay. She quickly placed a peck on his cheek before sitting down.

"Hey, cutie," she said with a smile. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Clay tried to cover his grin to not draw attention to himself, though he did see Mandy look at him with some disapproval. He wasn't surprised given Lola's previous reputation, but he had faith Lola could prove them wrong over time.

"Let's get started, class," Ms. Phillips said as people quieted down. "Today, we will be exploring the wide world of photography. Now there are people who say anyone can point a camera and make art. But a true artist doesn't simply 'point a camera.' They can see things that the average person can't. Lighting. Angles. Color composition. The details that separate a decent picture from a masterwork."

She picked up her own camera and switched it on. "Of course, I don't expect everyone to be a budding prodigy like Mr. Northwick and some of our regulars, but by the end of the year I expect everyone to walk away a better artist than when they began."

Clay snapped a surprised look towards Trent, who was giving his entire attention to Ms. Phillips. Budding prodigy? That's something he wouldn't have expected to hear about Trent. He ignored it as Ms. Phillips continued her opening statement.

"We'll start off light with a quick run through of camera maintenance and usage before I send you off for your first assignment. Not that I assume any of you don't know how to use a camera, but the school requires me to do so. For those using digital cameras…"

* * *

"…two and three."

Clay snapped the photo as the wind died down enough for a good shot. Mandy was paired up with him for the assignment and Ms. Phillips asked for whoever was not taking the photo to pose for the other person. So Clay got a not creepy excuse to take pictures of a pretty woman while getting photos of all the outdoor school banners. Of course, making sure Mandy was pleased with the photo was an entirely different issue.

"Hold on," Mandy said. "Can we do that again? I think my hair was in my eyes."

It wasn't, but Clay obliged her. Though they were burning time doing so many retakes. "This is the last one," he said deleting the old photo.

"Fine, fine," Mandy said as she posed by the school banner. "I don't want to look bad if anyone sees these."

Clay rolled his eyes. He was sure she was being extra sensitive after that whole mishap with those photos last year, but they were still on the first photo of the assignment. They would have to rush to finish at this rate.

"Ok," Clay said pointing the camera towards her.

"Make sure you get my good side," she asked.

"I'm trying…" Clay said focusing the shot. "One…two…thr-"

Right as he snapped the photo, someone pushed him from behind. Clay stumbled forward, ruining the shot.

"Hey!" He said to see Tom and Troy running off laughing to themselves while Clay groaned. Did they not hear about the threat? Though the thought occurred to him that the conditions might only apply to Trent specifically not harassing him if they were going to play it that literally.

"Assholes," Mandy said before looking back to Clay. "Just take the picture. The wind's picking up."

Clay grumbled as he deleted the photo and quickly snapped a new one. It probably wasn't the best quality, but he was fine letting that slide for now.

"Finally," Mandy said as she led the way to the next banner location. As Clay followed, she started to ask what Clay assumed had been on her mind for a while. "So what's up with you and Lola?"

"Hm?" He said.

"Lola doesn't pay attention to guys like you unless she wants something from them."

"She's just being nice."

"Yeah. I'm sure she is," Mandy said as they arrived to the next spot. "Alright, gimme that."

Clay handed her the camera and walked over to where he assumed Mandy would take the photo.

"A little to the left," she said pointing to a spot next to him, which he obliged as she adjusted the focus. "This is a pretty fancy camera."

"Yeah. It was my grandpa's."

"Was he rich or something?"

"…he was comfortable."

"So he was rich," Mandy said pointing the camera at him.

"Sure…" Clay said.

Mandy snapped the photo and handed the camera over as they switched places. "Does Lola know that he's rich?"

"Nope," Clay said as he adjusted the camera for his shot. "Because he wasn't rich."

"Still," Mandy said posing like she was in a tasteful magazine shoot. "If she's short on cash, she usually hits on guys like you."

Clay snapped the photo slightly more annoyed this time. "What does 'guys like me' mean?"

"I dunno…" Mandy said as they walked over to the next banner. "Average, cute, nice, kind of dorky guys with money."

"….'dorky,' huh?"

"You're auditioning for the school play. Honesty, that's pretty dorky."

"Almost as dorky as going to church?" Clay asked deciding to play devil's advocate.

"No," she said somewhat defensively. "There's nothing dorky about that."

"Then why hide it?"

"I already told you. If people—"

"So what if they know?" Clay said handing her the camera as they arrived at the next spot and he walked over. "You're clearly not going to church for the attention."

"You don't know me," Mandy said before realizing what she was agreeing to. "Ugh! Look, this isn't about me. It's about you and that floozy."

"If it's not about you, why are you so worried about what I do with her?" Clay said posing comfortably while she worked with the camera.

"I'm not worried. I…" She said trying to think of an excuse. "She already drove one student crazy. So it would suck to see a new kid go crazy too."

"…that sounds a lot like you're worried about a 'cute' guy to me," Clay teased using her own words.

"Just stand still," Mandy grumbled pointing the camera. Clay smirked as she snapped the photo and they swapped places. "You need to know who to trust and who's in your friend circle. Lola's not a person who fits in either," she said before holding a hand over her eyes. "Can you get an angle with less sun?"

Clay motioned her to move to the left and adjusted the camera. "Well, who do you trust? Who are your friends?"

"The football team and the cheerleaders. Well, maybe not Angie. She's dating that weirdo Ricky."

"They seem really good together," Clay said snapping her photo.

"Yeah, like oil and…I don't know. Whatever goes bad with oil."

"…water?"

"Yeah, oil and water."

"…have you ever talked to Ricky before?"

"No. Why would I do that?" Mandy said as they moved to the fourth banner.

"Well…he has been really nice to me so far."

"Yeah, you're both that same scale of—"

"Can you…" Clay interrupted standing in front of her to stop them. "Can you not call me a dork, please?" Mandy seemed surprised by his gesture. "It's mean."

"…well, then maybe don't be so dorky?"

Clay crossed his arms. "What qualifies as not being dorky that isn't cheerleading or sports?"

Mandy paused to think of something. "Um…I don't know…shooting guns?"

"…so you want me to bring guns school?"

"No! Just…I don't know. Just don't be as dorky as Beatrice. That's a good bar to clear," Mandy said as she saw Clay give another skeptical glare. "What? Is she your friend?"

"Yeah," Clay said not hesitating.

"Of course she is," Mandy said starting to walk to the next banner, but being stopped by Clay. "Hey!"

"Hold on," Clay said feeling that sense of boldness from before kick back in. "What's your problem with Beatrice?"

"What's not a problem with her? She's annoying, she's ugly and she keeps trying to join the cheerleader team."

"Why is that a problem?"

"Because being a cheerleader is a big deal. You represent the best of the school—"

"The best of the school?" Clay repeated incredulously.

"Cheerleading's hard! And I've gotten farther in school by being the captain of the squad than she has babbling on about nerd stuff-"

"You won't be captain for long if you flunk out of school! Don't you need a minimum score to stay on the team?"

They held a tense silence for several seconds before she snatched the camera stormed off to take the next photo.

"I don't need her help," Mandy grumbled loudly.

"I didn't say you—"

"I wasn't talking to you! Get in front of the banner."

Clay rolled his eyes and positioned himself. He looked over to see Mandy struggling with the camera. She clearly knew what to do, but she seemed distracted by something. Clay sighed and walked over to her. "Ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She snapped. "Nothing's wrong! Everything is absolutely fine!"

"…you don't sound fine," Clay said half teasing and half very concerned.

Mandy groaned loudly and turned her back to him. "Why does everyone want to do things for me? I'm not stupid! I can figure out this—"

"Were you really flunking your classes last year?" Clay asked.

Mandy seethed with no reply and a short pause lingered.

"Why don't you get a tutor?" Clay asked further.

"…because I'm blacklisted," Mandy mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Because I'm blacklisted from the tutor groups!" Mandy said louder and more frustrated. "Beatrice was pissed I wouldn't let her audition for the squad and got her nerd herd to blacklist me on all the tutor sign-up sheets."

"All of them?"

"Yeah. Anytime I sign up for one, my name gets removed or they never call me back."

Clay could slightly relate with that sign-up incident the other day. "Why don't you ask the guys on the team to help?"

"You think those dumbasses know how to study?" Mandy said frankly. "They barely have to pass and they can still play football. But I get three F's and my parents flip out and threaten to remove me from the squas! Apparently I'm not 'applying myself seriously' enough. But this is what I do best. Why would I need to study when I can get a job doing something I love?"

"…is it easy getting a cheerleading job?"

"..no…" Mandy mumbled crossing her arms and slouching forward. "I mean, yes but not a good cheerleading job unless you screw the players or the coach."

"…maybe don't do that."

"What am I supposed to do?" She said turning to Clay. "The jocks don't know shit, the nerds won't help me, and I don't want to join Jimmy's weird little experiment."

"What about the teachers?"

"And get called a teacher's pet?"

Clay sighed and put a hand to his face. Why did he have to keep trying to help people? Before he could stop himself, the words spilled out of his mouth. "Ok…what if…I helped you?"

A pause lingered. Clay moved the hand from his face to see Mandy seriously consider it. Or at least entertain the thought of considering it.

"…do you know math, English and chemistry well?" She asked.

"…enough," Clay admitted before changing tones. "I'm learning it too, so maybe we can…you know, learn together? That's what study groups are for."

Mandy mulled over the offer more, seemingly weighing the options. She looked to Clay, who shrugged in a way to communicate 'It's either that or flunking.' Finally, with some hesitance, Mandy gave her answer.

* * *

"You're kidding?" Janet said.

Clay leaned against a locker next to her looking down at his feet. He knew she would probably say that and she was the first person he told so he'd likely hear that a lot more.

"She needs to keep her grades up and the nerds won't help her," Clay mumbled. "Seemed like the right thing to do."

"You're going to tutor the queen bitch of the school?" Janet said closing her own locker. "You?"

"Who else?" Clay asked.

"Uh uhuh…can you explain what a Pythagorean theorem is?"

"Kind of…"

"Do you know the difference between acids and bases?"

"The names?"

"Can you spell pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis?"

"The heck is that?"

"Longest word in the dictionary. Point being, how the hell do you expect to tutor her?"

"I don't know," Clay shrugged. "It'll force me to learn that stuff…except the peh-new-oh thing. I have no idea why I need to know that."

"Sure…but it's going to be a commitment."

"She's not dumb."

"No, but she's stubborn and that's worse. Dumb humble people learn things better. No…this is probably too much for you."

Clay raised an eyebrow at her. He could sense something in the back of her mind brewing and he had a pretty good idea what it was. Right as she opened her mouth, Clay interrupted. "Are you sure you want to help her study too? You don't seem to like her."

"I don't 'want to help her study,' but it might be good for…I dunno."

"Leverage?"

"Maybe…I guess having the self-proclaimed queen of the school in our pocket would turn a lot of heads. I just don't want to see her bulldoze you."

"Nice to know you care about me."

"Of course I do," Janet said before catching herself. "I mean, I care about her not…you know what I mean…"

If Clay wasn't mistaken, he thought he saw Janet blush. Maybe there was something to Mr. Felton's seventh sense after all. Or he just caught her tripping on her words.

"When does she want to meet?" Janet said.

"Well, it's early in the year so she isn't worried yet. She wants to play it by ear first."

"Mmhmm," Janet said with some concern. "Next time you see her, get her to commit. We can't have her cutting into our rehearsal time."

"If we get the parts…" Clay said.

"You're getting that part. Because there's no way I'm acting romantic with Trent if he gets the lead."

"Huh?" Clay said before realizing. "Oh right. The female lead and the male…yeah..."

"Mmhmm…"

Another awkward pause hung in the air until a voice was heard on the intercom.

"Would Mr. McKinley please report to the front desk?" Ms. Danvers said across the building. "You have a call waiting."

Clay was surprised. A call? He wasn't expecting anyone to call him. But it was as good an excuse as any.

"I guess I'll see you tonight," Clay said trying to shift out of the awkwardness.

"Yeah, at the beach party…" Janet said doing the same.

"Cool…"

"Ok…"

Clay was about to walk off…until he remembered something. "Oh right, wait," he said reaching into his pocket and handing Janet $15. "For the music book."

"Oh!" Janet said surprised taking the cash. "Thanks. That was quick."

"I figured…you know, I should pay it now rather than wait later."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," she said motioning to the front office. "You should probably go get that call."

"Right! That," Clay said walking off. "Thanks."

Clay sighed as he walked away from the scene. What was going on today? Ambushed in the showers. Attacking someone with a stink bomb. Tutoring a cheerleader. Kind of flirting with Janet. This was way out of his element. What was this school bringing out of him?

He entered the main office and saw Ms. Danvers typing away at something not acknowledging him. "Uh…" He started before she cut him off.

"The black courtesy phone to your left," Ms. Danvers said still not looking up. "Don't worry about me listening. I won't be paying attention."

Well…good for him, he thought to himself. He shuffled over to the phone and picked up the receiver. Who could be calling him right now? He held the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hi, sweetie!" A very familiar and welcomed voice replied.

"Mom?" Clay asked with a smile.

"How's my little big man doing?" She asked. "You haven't called me in almost a week."

"Oh…right…" Clay said putting a hand to his face realizing he was supposed to call her once he landed.

"I only knew you made it there safely because I called the headmaster," she said. "You had me worried sick."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Clay said leaning against the wall. "It's…it's been a busy week."

"I'm sure. New school. New friends. New classes. It's a lot to take in."

"Yeah…" he replied wishing he could go even more in-depth on that, but he figured he shouldn't worry her with so many details. "Definitely a lot."

"Have you been keeping out of trouble?"

"Yes."

"No fighting?"

"Not even a crossed glance," he said somewhat truthfully.

"Good. Your uncle said the school would be a big help. Sometimes regimented discipline is important in making a balanced individual."

"…sure," Clay said not sure how to respond. She must have heard that one from Dr. Crabblesnitch when she called.

"How are your classes?" She asked.

"They're…well, I got a lot of them."

"Hyrum figured you should get a full course load to keep you focused. Plus, the opportunity to learn from experienced teachers like that is a once in a lifetime experience."

"…if you say so."

"And not to bring up old news, but the other boys' families said they wouldn't press charges."

"…ok."

"I know you weren't in the wrong, sweetie. We have enough evidence to bury them in litigation if they say otherwise and they know it. Still, you need to be careful out there."

"I know, mom," Clay said crossing his arms as he couched the phone between his ear and shoulder. "…and I'm still sorry."

"Don't be. You defended yourself."

"…but it wasn't very…you know, Christ like."

"It wasn't…but what's done is done. All you can do is be better." Clay exhaled softly at that as his mother continued. "You'll do great, sweetie. And I'm always a phone call away if you need to talk about anything."

"Thanks…how are Jessica and Mark?"

"They're doing great. Jessica aced her first quiz and Mark's doing gopher duties for Uncle Hyrum since he can't legally work at the sites."

"Yeah…"

"That reminds me. Hyrum said you'll need a bike out in Bullworth. There should be one waiting for you in the Shiny Bikes if you ask for the one ordered by Desirae McKinley."

"Oh!" Clay said eyes wide open. "Wow…thanks mom. You didn't have to."

"It's the least we can do. I should get going, but make sure to call me next week. Ok, sweetie."

"Ok, mom."

"Love you tons."

"Love you too. Bye," Clay said hanging up the phone. He stood there quietly reflecting on the conversation. It felt like an eternity since he left Utah when it had only been about week. There were so many things he should have said to her. So many details about what he had been through. All the troubles he had so far. But like his mom said, what's done is done.

"You can go now," Ms. Danvers said not looking up from her work.

"Yeah, yeah," Clay grumbled walking out of the office. What was done was done alright and he was done talking to Ms. Danvers as much as she was with him. A nice way to remind him of the reality he left momentarily during that phone call….

* * *

Clay strolled out of the boys dorm around 5 P. his swim trunks under his uniform and carrying a bag with a towel on his shoulder. It would be easier than changing at the beach, though it did make for a tight squeeze as he walked. Still, the idea of a beach party excited him enough he didn't mind. There were no real beaches in Utah aside from artificially created beach areas and the Salt Lake was too salty to enjoy at all. So this would be his first party since that one trip his family made to that beach outside Los Santos.

He crossed through the main area leading to the gate and noticed the people out at the moment. Some of the students were engaged in their usual chit chat and casual strolls around, but there were a fair number taking the time to enjoy the leftover summer while they studied outside. The prefects kept an eagle eye out for troublemakers as usual and Clay even saw Ms. Peabody out on patrol. No one seemed to pay any attention to them though. They knew what they could and couldn't do out in the open.

As Clay exited the gate, he felt someone tap on his shoulder before giving him a peck on the cheek. He immediately knew who it was.

"Guess who?" Lola said in her usual tone.

"Hm…Ms. Peabody?" Clay teased.

"Ugh, as if," she said walking to his side. Surprisingly, Lola was also dressed in a school uniform, which was incredibly uncommon for her based on what he had seen. She still wore her hair up in that usual fashion, but she seemed a lot more dressed down in general. It was probably because she wouldn't need to doll up for a beach party, but still…it was strange. A bag was also slung over her shoulder swaying while she walked.

"How are you today?" Clay then asked.

"Oh, you know," she replied. "Just…processing everything."

"Mmhmm…" Clay said as he could sense some awkwardness between them. They hadn't actually talked about their little rendezvous at the Clubhouse and this might be the best time to do so without too many eavesdroppers. "So, um, yesterday was…"

"…fun," Lola continued.

"…yeah," Clay admitted. "It was…fun and, um, really nice."

He could have sworn he saw Lola blush before she continued. "You kiss really well for a rookie."

"Rookie?" Clay said attempting to cover what seemed to be obvious.

"Sure. You did a few things people really new to kissing do. Still, I'm impressed you kept up."

"…what kind of things do rookie kissers do?"

"It's hard to explain, but it goes away with a little more practice. Trust me."

Clay felt himself blush as well before continuing. "Um…so, then does that mean-?"

"Yes and no," Lola replied.

"…hm?"

"I…I've thought a lot about some things," Lola said. "God, who knew thinking that much could give you such a headache? I think if I don't want to be considered the school skank, I might need to…cool it down with the openly flirty stuff and serious dating. Especially after what happened with Johnny."

"…oh," Clay said slightly disappointed.

"…but, I wouldn't mind spending that kind of time with you again whenever we're feeling lonely," she said looking at him with a smirk.

Clay's cheeks must have been burning red with that remark, but he tried to keep in control. "Oh, uh, yeah! Absolutely!"

Lola chuckled at that. "Don't be too eager, cutie. It'll happen in time."

Clay felt himself dying of embarrassment over that. So she didn't want to date him, but she wasn't above having make-out flings with him. He didn't know if he should feel flattered that she found him attractive like that or feel like he was a dirty little secret. She did seem to be a little less crazy than usual though, so perhaps having that option open might be good for her in the long run.

"So I heard a little rumor," Lola then said. "Apparently a certain someone is going to tutor Mandy." Clay was about to ask how she heard about that so quickly before she answered. "I heard her talking about it with her parents while I was changing."

"Oh," Clay replied. "Well…yeah."

"Picking fights with Norton, tutoring the head cheerleader, sticking it to Trent," Lola rattled off. "And you've only been here for a week."

"Yeah," Clay said slightly exasperated. "Already feels like an eternity."

"I can only imagine what a year will be like for you," she replied as they continued over the bridge and made their way towards the beach. "And if Mandy tries to pull anything on you, just say the word and I'll give her a piece of my mind."

"Thanks, but you probably shouldn't," Clay said.

"Keep it in mind," she said. "Because I won't let that bitch hurt my sweet little Clay."

Clay was flattered by that, but figured he could handle Mandy should she be a problem. Right now he was worried that he might not even be smart enough to tutor her, but Janet should be a huge help with that.

The two of them arrived at the beach and saw a bunch of the people from their group already there. Jimmy was overseeing things as was his usual thing to do, wearing a red and blue pair of swim trunks. A bunch of the people there were already playing in the water. A few people, including Beatrice, were sitting on the sand or in some folding chairs watching. Jimmy then noticed Clay and Lola, smirking as he faced them.

"Well well," he replied. "Now it's a party. You two going to keep your hands off each other long enough to party?"

"For your information Mr. Smarty Pants, we're just friends," Lola said pulling out a towel from her bag. "So yes. Now excuse me."

Lola sauntered her way to the place Beatrice was sitting to set her bag down and slip off her clothes. Jimmy looked to Clay with a raised eyebrow, who replied with a shrug.

"So…" Jimmy started talking to Clay slightly hushed. "Did you guys become friends before or after you made out?"

Clay raised an eyebrow himself.

"Oh, don't play dumb," Jimmy replied. "It's pretty obvious. Look, I won't tell anyone. If Lola's behaving because of it, make out with her all you want."

"…thank you?" Clay replied unsure what would be an appropriate response to that.

"You're welcome," Jimmy said. "Maybe all she needs is someone dependable. It certainly wasn't going to be me."

"…do people know about you and her making out?"

"Sure, but after everything she pulled with me, no one holds it over my head. Remember to watch out if she tries to do that with you."

"Yeah yeah," Clay replied looking over to see Lola finish taking off her uniform and reveal her swimsuit. He felt like he almost had a nosebleed at how…sexy it made her look. It wasn't exactly super short or inappropriate, but it certainly didn't leave much to the imagination either. The top had a unique wavy design like a tie-dye from the 60's and the bottom had a printing on the rear that read 'Mind Boggling.' With how firm her rear looked, it was a pretty accurate statement. He quickly looked away to make sure he wasn't staring.

"Hoo boy," Jimmy said watching Lola walk to the water to join the party in progress. "Make sure not too stare too long or it'll burn your eyes out."

"Y-yeah," Clay said regaining focus. "I know."

"Ok…" Jimmy said pushing him towards the waiting area. "Go join the fun."

Clay made his way over to set his bag down, noticing that Beatrice seemed to be much more visibly nervous than he realized. Bucky was also next to her dressed in his uniform.

"Hey," Clay said drawing their attention. "You guys joining?"

"I, uh…" Beatrice said hesitantly. "I think I'll wait a little bit."

"Yeah," Bucky followed. "You know…just getting ready."

Clay raised an eyebrow while setting his bag on the sand. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," Beatrice said a little too abruptly. "I mean, yeah…everything's, um, everything's fine."

"…how come you guys are still in your uniforms?" Clay asked.

"I…well, uh…" Beatrice stammered. "I just think maybe I shouldn't…um, show off my swimsuit."

Clay started to realize. They were worried about people judging them in swimwear. Well, Beatrice was. He couldn't tell if Bucky actually was or if he was just following Beatrice's example due to his crush on her.

"Maybe we can wait until later," Bucky then said. "You know, when everyone's gone."

"…then it wouldn't be much of a beach party, would it?" Clay said looking out to the group. "Do you really think they'll judge you for how you look in your swimsuit?"

"Maybe," Beatrice said.

"Then why did you come wearing one?"

"…well, I just…" She started to say clearly without having a good answer.

"She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, man," Bucky said.

"She doesn't," Clay reassured. "But I don't think anyone here would mind. You're with friends."

"Friends can still say mean things about your body," Beatrice said.

"Why would anyone say anything bad about your body?" Clay asked.

"Hey!" Bucky snapped. "That's inappropriate to ask—"

"Its fine, Bucky," Beatrice interrupted him before looking back to Clay. "I don't know. Just…you know, I'm not Lola."

They looked out to see Lola laughing as she and several people engaged in splashing each other, her top bouncing around as she moved and drawing the attention of some of the guys. Clay also noted Janet out in the water playing with Lola, also wearing a pretty alluring suit.

"Well, you don't have to be her," Clay said looking back to Beatrice as he took off his shirt. "Just be yourself. We're here to have fun, not get on the cover of a sports magazine."

He then removed his pants, revealing his blue and white swim trunks.

"That wouldn't be hard for you to do," Beatrice said quietly.

"Hm?" Clay asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing," Beatrice said embarrassed.

Clay pretended not to hear that for her sake, but he was flattered that she thought that way about him. He did catch a glimpse of Bucky's envy though.

"Look," Bucky said. "She can decide for herself."

"I know," Clay said taking a few steps to the water. "It'd just be fun having everyone out there. And I'm sure your swimsuit looks great, Beatrice."

With that, Clay rushed from the sand into the water. After everything that happened today, he needed something fun and he needed it now. Water kicked up around him as he joined the group.

"Better late than never," Janet said noticing him.

For a while, the group enjoyed some small games out in the water. There was the usual amount of splashing and horseplay, some fun messing around with the waves that would kick up every so often and some chit chat with friends. Clay couldn't have asked for much more than that, but after a while Jimmy decided to try something a little more active.

"Anyone up for Chicken?" He asked.

"Sure!" Ricky replied.

"I'm game," Lola also said.

"Ok," Kirby then said.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," a new voice then said behind Clay.

Clay and a few other people turned to see none other than Beatrice wade out towards them with Bucky in tow. Clay smiled seeing her finally join the fun. He also admired her swimsuit, which was much more modest than the other girls at the party, but not nearly the disaster she seemed to fear.

"Hey!" Jimmy said with a smile to the two newcomers. "The gang's all here. Alright, pick a partner and head out to the deeper end."

Jimmy waded out with Zoey by his side as Clay looked around to see who he could partner up with. Unfortunately, most of the women there seemed to be taken. Angie was unsurprisingly with Ricky, Janet had decided to team up with Bryce and Lola…well, she decided to pull out a ringer.

"Russell and Lola smash competition!" Russell said easily lifting Lola onto his shoulders and wading out to the game.

"You said it, big guy," Lola said with a giggle.

Great, Clay thought to himself. It was a slight weakness of the group, and the school in general, that there weren't as many women around. Still, he figured he could sit out for the first round…

…before he felt Beatrice tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, uh…" Beatrice said nervously to Clay. "So I've never played 'Chicken' before. Could you be my…um, lab partner for this?"

Clay looked to her wide-eyed in surprise, but nodded. "Uh, yeah, Sure," he said leading her out to the deeper end. Of course, he saw Bucky cross his arms and mope jealously nearby. Jimmy must have hit the nail on the head for why Bucky was hanging out with the group.

The teams waded out to the deeper end and the women began sitting on the guy's shoulders. Clay motioned Beatrice to stand in front of him.

"Uh, so how do I, um, do this?" Beatrice asked nervously.

"Just hop onto my shoulders when I dive down," Clay said. "Piece of cake. Ready?"

"…sure."

"And go!"

Clay dove under the water and watched Beatrice glide back slightly to position herself. Not exactly what he meant by 'jumping onto his shoulders,' but he'd let it slide. With a quick thrust up, he saddled her legs around his shoulders, wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted her out of the water.

"Wooo!" Beatrice exclaimed in surprise gripping onto Clay's head. "Oh my…"

"You're going to have to let go of him at some point, Bea," Jimmy replied with Zoey on his shoulders. "The name of the game is pushing people off their mounts."

"…it is?" Beatrice asked looking at Clay.

"Yeah," Clay replied unsure what else to say.

"Oh no…"

"And…start!" Jimmy said as he and Zoey rushed to take down Russell and Lola. Angie and Ricky joined in to tag team considering the advantage Russell had on everyone else. That left Clay and Beatrice to take down Janet and Bryce.

"Alright, here we come!" Bryce taunted rushing towards them.

"Clay, what do I do?" Beatrice said with a little panic.

"Push them!" Clay said charging forward and juking off to the side as Janet attempted to push Beatrice.

"Whoa!" Beatrice exclaimed trying to keep her balance.

"Come on, Bea," Janet said. "Knock me down. You can do it!"

"Yeah, Bea," Clay joined in. "You got this."

"I really don't," Beatrice said before Clay rushed forward to challenge them again. He was getting in the zone, though he hoped Beatrice would catch on.

As they met each other and Janet had Beatrice lock hands to try and knock each other off, Clay sensed something. While he was shifting his weight to make sure he could keep Beatrice on his shoulders, it seemed that Janet wasn't trying as hard to knock her off as she likely could have. Bryce seemed oblivious to this, but she seemed to be playing along to give Beatrice a fighting chance. That was fine with him, of course.

"You're going down, buddy," Bryce taunted.

"Oh, I don't think so," Clay taunted back.

Behind Bryce, Clay could see Lola knock off Angie from Ricky's shoulders before turning her attention to Zoey. The two of them looked like they had some genuine fire in their eyes as they locked hands, which would prove interesting to see who prevailed. He did notice that Russell had to get on his knees for the game though, ensuring that Lola did not have too severe a height advantage over everyone else.

Beatrice shoved back against Janet, forcing both of their guys to stumble back a few steps.

"Oh ho," Janet taunted. "Getting competitive now?"

"This is going to hurt, huh?" Beatrice replied.

"Naw! Stop trying to push me and actually push me. Get 'em!"

Bryce charged at them with Janet ready to knock Beatrice off. Clay thought quickly as he heard Beatrice squeak nervously and reach out to meet Janet. As soon as Janet and Beatrice connected, Clay sidestepped with enough force that Janet started to tip to the side. Sensing Clay's strategy, she leaned extra far until Bryce could no longer support her weight.

"Let go!" Clay prompted Beatrice before she got dragged down with Bryce and Janet. Clay stabilized their stance as they were splashed by their opponents' fall.

"…wh…what just happened?" Beatrice asked.

"You beat her," Clay replied as Bryce and Janet emerged from the water.

"I did?"

"Yeah," Janet replied with a smirk. "Good job!"

"Wow…that felt great!" Beatrice said before looking over to see who was left. "Uh oh…"

Clay turned to see Jimmy and Zoey standing as Lola and Russel emerged out of the water themselves.

"Better luck next round," Zoey taunted.

"Oh, you're going to get it!" Lola replied.

"Russell would win if he not play fair," Russell said wading back to the group waiting.

"Hey you did good, big guy," Jimmy said turning to see Beatrice and Clay. "Well well well. This is an interesting turn of events."

"You're going down," Clay said getting ready as he heard the people waiting on the sidelines cheering for their favorites.

"Uh, Clay…" Beatrice said nervously.

"Hey," he replied giving a pat on her leg. "You got this. It's all for fun, anyway."

"…ok," Beatrice said looking to Jimmy and Zoey. "Uh…bring it on?"

"Oooo….I'm shaking in my suit," Zoey teased. "Come get us, then."

The two groups rushed forward and dueled with people cheering off to the side. Unlike Janet, Zoey was definitely not playing along to help out Beatrice. It required Clay to do a lot more balancing work to help keep Beatrice upright while she attempted to knock Zoey off.

The match went on for at least another minute as Clay did double duty to help out Beatrice. However, she was getting more into it the longer they lasted without falling off.

"Got you!" Beatrice shouted giving Zoey a shove. Unfortunately, Jimmy managed to keep them balanced with a firm plant of his foot backward.

"I don't think so," Zoey taunted as they launched back towards Clay and Beatrice.

Clay started to pant a little. Beatrice wasn't exactly the lightest girl at the party, though she was not fat at all. That and the longer they kept this up, the more fatigued his shoulders and legs were getting.

"Feeling weak, young apprentice?" Jimmy taunted as their duel scooted them back closer and closer towards the group.

"You…you kidding," Clay replied adjusting his weight with each step and trying to put on his tough guy face. "We can keep this up all—"

Right then, Clay felt himself lose his balance. It wasn't from not being able to stand though or from Zoey overpowering Beatrice. Someone's leg was stuck out and tripped him. Unfortunately, this distraction gave Zoey the leverage to knock Beatrice and Clay over to the right. Beatrice squeezed her legs around his neck tightly as they fell, the cheers from the crowd muffling as they submerged. He gagged a bit from her grip, but he managed to get her to let go with a few taps on the leg. They quickly then emerged and he gasped for air as he saw people cheering for Jimmy and Zoey.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jimmy said bowing as Zoey hopped off his shoulders. "All in a day's work."

Clay looked over to see Beatrice be greeted by Janet and Bucky.

"Hey! You did great, Bea," Janet said.

"Yeah," Bucky then said with a slightly snarky glance to Clay. "If Clay wasn't so clumsy, you'd have won."

The thought immediately crossed his mind that Bucky tripped him to make him look bad and Bucky didn't seem to deny it. Before Clay could say anything though, Beatrice started to speak.

"That…" She said. "Was so…much…fun!"

Bucky and Clay seemed surprised by the reaction as she suddenly got much more animated looking to Clay and speaking breathlessly. "God, that was great! We were wrestling them and Jimmy was all 'Grr, I'm going to beat you' and you were all 'No way, you Neanderthal. You're going down.' And then we lost, but then it was just so much fun I didn't care! That was great!"

She then wrapped her arms tightly around his neck for a huge hug. "Thanks for being my partner!"

"You're…ugh, welcome," Clay gagged from the hug.

"Oh! Sorry…" She said realizing and letting him go with a blush. "Must be the energy rush from the fall."

"Alright," Jimmy said to everyone. "If you didn't play last round, you got priority."

"Come on, Bucky," Beatrice said making her way over. "We can beat them!"

As she waded across, Bucky looked back to Clay apprehensively, who simply crossed his arms in response. Well, and he threw in a taunt for good measure.

"Don't keep her waiting," he replied emboldened that the sabotage didn't affect him. "Oh, and watch out for cheaters."

Bucky grumbled before following Beatrice back into the game. He hadn't intended to get caught up in some jealous romantic game, but he would be darned if he let Bucky ruin their fun. Nobody liked a bad sport…

* * *

The sun was setting in the distance as the group started to wind down the fun and prep for their walk back to campus. Clay decided to join a few of the others who went to a nearby shower stall to get some of that salt water off first. That sticky feeling it usually left was just gross!

Once most everyone had used the stalls and he found an open shower head, he turned the knob and started rinsing himself off. He'd have to wait to get a full shower at the dorms, but it was a start. In the middle of his rinse though, he heard someone in the next stall trying to get his attention.

"Hey," He saw Zoey say to him as she rinsed herself next to him.

"Oh, uh, hey," he replied. It was weird having open shower stalls like this where anyone could visibly shower in range of each other, but he'd have to deal with it.

"Looks like you had a good time out there," she then said.

"Yeah…well I-"

"Just so you know," she then interrupted. "Jimmy almost got in trouble again because he stuck his neck out for you."

"…yeah," Clay said realizing where this was going. "Look, I'm sorry. I just…I didn't know who else to ask."

"It's hard not to ask him when he constantly advertises his services. Still, the last thing he needs is to get stir up shit with the cliques more than he has to."

"…but that's his plan."

"No, he has other plans. What he did for you was a deviation from the plan."

"…and it worked."

"For now," Zoey said before heaving a sigh. "He always going a rabble rouser at heart. Honestly, it's why I found him so hot, but this isn't just knocking Mr. Burton over a hill in a port-a-john. School politics are messy and you never know what might happen if you go off script."

"…I didn't know there was a script."

"Jimmy likes to keep his plans close to his chest until he feels ready. My point is, you got to consider Jimmy's safety in this. If he keeps helping you like that, he could get in serious trouble. And I don't want to be 'that kind of girlfriend,' but I can't help it. Ok?"

Clay wasn't sure what else he could do if he couldn't rely on Jimmy for help. And did she just mean in general he couldn't ask for help or that he should be more cautious on what he asked Jimmy to do? Regardless, he felt he should just go along.

"Alright," he said with a nod.

"Good," she said turning off her shower knob. "Now having said that, I do need your help with something."

"Am I allowed to help?" Clay asked turning off his shower.

"Yes. As long as you don't get me in trouble too."

"…fine. What do you need?"

"The Preps are causing some kind of problems for the nerds. Normally we wouldn't get caught up in their squabbles, but Fatty asked me personally to help. And since it could end up badly if Jimmy got involved, I figured I might Shanghai you into my plan as compensation for his services."

Great…more trouble.

"I can't fight anyone on campus," Clay noted. "Crabblesnitch will expel me."

"Oh don't worry," she said. "If everything works out, no one has to raise a finger. Meet me outside the library during lunch. I'll have more information then."

"Ok…"

Zoey started to walk away before turning back to face Clay. "Oh, and I'd jump on asking Beatrice out if I were you."

"Huh?"

"Did you see the way she ogled you tonight? She clearly thinks you're a fine piece of real estate. Plus, it'd be nice for her to hang out with someone other than Bucky. The guy's way too clingy."

Clay couldn't disagree with that.

"Just something to keep in mind," Zoey continued. "See you later."

Clay let the water drip off his body a little longer while she walked away. So now he was going to get himself involved with a situation to help the nerds, while he also risked the opportunity to tick off one of the nerds by asking out Beatrice. He was too nice to say no to the first request, especially since Zoey looked like she could kick his butt if he said no. He had to think over that last one though. Beatrice was nice and easy on the eyes, but this would be something delicate to navigate. Apparently she liked him enough to consider him good real estate, which was a compliment he never assumed he would get.

Clay stepped out, dried himself off with his towel and picked up his bag with his clothes stuffed deep down where they couldn't be stolen so he could change. Today started and ended with weird showers. He didn't need it to be any weirder…


End file.
